Caring From Afar
by lauren2381
Summary: Follow Emma and Clay as they navigate through deployments and more! You might want to read Tender Loving Care and Beyond Caring first to understand this one!
1. Chapter 1

Blinking in the morning sunlight, Emma Kate Hayes wearily rolled over to turn off the blaring alarm clock that she had set on her cell phone. Waking up before ten in the morning on Saturday wasn't typical of her weekend plans, but sometimes sacrifices had to be made, at least she would get some good barbecue. Distantly Emma could hear the rumblings of her dad and Mikey throughout the house and knew she had to get up, but she would just stay under the covers for just a few more minutes.

It was a dangerous game to play, closing your eyes in the morning after the alarm went off, but Emma was willing to roll the dice, it would only be for a few minutes. Emma didn't know how long she had been asleep, it could have been five minutes or an hour, but the next thing that she knew someone was climbing into bed with her and the sun was much higher in the sky.

"Good morning," Emma said, voice still gritty with sleep. She didn't have to open her eyes to know who was in her bed.

"I think you mean good afternoon Em," Clay chuckled. His girl definitely loved her sleep, and this wasn't the first time that he had to come in and wake her on the rare weekends when they had plans.

It took a minute for the words to sink in, and then Emma was up. "What? What time is it?"

"Nearly noon, Jace sent me up here to get you, said something about you making side dishes for today?" Clay smoothed the frazzled hair away from her face and laughed when she pouted.

"It's not funny!" Emma threw off the covers and went to her closet, not noticing how Clay drooled at the sight of her long legs, underwear just barely covered by her sleep shirt. "Is anyone else here yet?"

When Clay didn't answer, Emma spun around, halfway into the pretty sundress she had bought for the occasion. It wasn't every day you had an Aunt going to Officer Training School after all. "Clay?"

"Huh? Sorry Em, yeah everyone's here, Sonny is already at the grill." Clay came up behind her and zipped her dress, taking the time to kiss her neck gently. "We have a few minutes alone here," he muttered against her skin, strong arms wrapped around her stomach.

"If we continue this, it's gonna be more than a few minutes babe," Emma laughed, leaning into his chest. "I have to go downstairs; I'm supposed to be helping Naima and Darcy make side dishes."

Clay didn't say anything, just pressed little kisses to her neck, shifting her hair out of the way. He didn't want to let her go and if she went down the stairs, he knew it would be hours before he would be alone with her. It was worth it to spend time with his brothers and to celebrate Davis' accomplishments, but Clay was longing for the day when he and Emma didn't have to separate, they would come home to the same apartment and share their lives. But for now, Clay would settle for seeing her as often as he could, she was worth it.

"Clay," Emma sighed, turning her head to kiss his lips gently. "I really have to go."

"I know," he said putting his forehead on hers. He had seen her just a few days before hand, but it never seemed to be enough. The last few weeks without OPs brought a new awareness to how he wanted to live his life when he wasn't spun up and having the realization without a means to act on was difficult for the man, especially with another deployment looming on the horizon. A deployment that he hadn't found the time to tell Emma about.

Eventually Clay managed to pry himself from Emma's side and the two walked hand in hand down to the kitchen where Naima had taken residence. There were dishes everywhere, and even little Jameelah seemed to be getting in on the action, a small station set up where she was peeling potatoes and carrots next to her mother.

"Look who decided to wake up! Clay, you'll see her in a bit, I need her right now," Naima said, shooing him out of the kitchen. Emma gave him one last kiss before taking a knife and cutting board from the cabinet. When Naima gave an order, it was followed, and Emma was no exception.

The girls worked in companionable silence, each working to finish up the side dishes in time for Lisa Davis' grand arrival. Just as she was putting the finishing touches on the pasta salad, her phone rang. Drying her hands on a dish towel, Emma answered the Facetime call from Hannah and propped the phone up so she could start chopping up the watermelon.

"Hannie, what's up?" Emma said, not looking at the phone. It would take all her concentration not to nick her fingers as she cut the slippery fruit.

"Em, look at me"

"Hannie, I have to finish this, what's the matter? Did something happen?"

"No everything's fine, I just need you to look at me," Hannah reassured her, but she still sounded off. Sharing a glance with Naima and Darcy, Emma put down the knife and picked up her phone.

"Ok you got me Han, what's up?" Emma was curious, often Hannah was more than content to just talk to Emma, she didn't need her undivided attention.

"You know how Jamie deployed this morning? He spent the night at my place last night," Hannah admitted. Emma just raised an eyebrow, it wasn't uncommon for James to spend the night at either of their places, anything to avoid the hellhole he called a house. Over the years, he had spent more time at Hannah's place, but Emma didn't mind, she hoped it would one day push them together.

"I guess you and Jamie kissed and made up then?" Emma replied, still waiting for Hannah to get to the point of her story. Hannah and Jamie sometimes acted like two kids who weren't getting their way and were both stubborn to a fault. Eventually someone would apologize first and it would be forgotten but getting to that point often took more prodding from Emma and some alcohol, not just a night spent with one another.

"You could say that," Hannah admitted, shifting in her bed. The way she was lying in bed prevented Emma from seeing more than her face, but now her neck and chest were just barely visible.

"Hannah Lynn," Emma gasped. On the side of her neck, a large purple hickey was blooming where her neck met her shoulders and her chest was littered with smaller love bites.

"I know, I know," Hannah giggled, covering her face.

Emma just stared at her, there was nothing else to say. Nothing she really could say with little ears around her. "I don't, I don't know what to say."

"I've struck the great Emma Hayes speechless? I didn't think that this day would ever come!" Hannah sang, noting that there was a rising flush on Emma's neck and maybe just a hint of a love bite of her own peeking out over the neckline of her dress.

"No there's _so_ much that I want to say, but there are little ears present," Emma said looking up at Aunt Darcy and Aunt Naima, noting their feral grins. "I'm just gonna ask one question, but don't worry, we'll have more for you later," Emma said, flipping the camera to show Hannah the wide grins on Naima and Darcy's face. "Was it good?"

At her words Darcy and Naima howled with laughter, attracting the attention of the men outside on the patio. Paying them no mind, Emma raised an eyebrow and waited for Hannah to answer her question. At her slow nod, Emma cackled herself and did a little happy dance around the kitchen. "Alright Hannie, I gotta go. Are you still coming over today?"

"I'll be there soon, I just have to figure out how to cover this up," Hannah said gesturing to her neck. It wasn't like she could cover it with a scarf and be fine, no one would believe that for a second.

"I'll see you soon Hannie, I want those details!" Emma exclaimed, happy that she and Jamie had finally figured it out for themselves. Hanging up the phone, Emma turned back to her watermelon, chuckling to herself.

The back door shut loudly, and Ray Perry came in, grabbing two bowls off the counter. "What are you ladies laughing so loudly about?" he questioned, grinning when Naima flushed. It had to be something good if it was making her go red, not much phased his brazen wife anymore.

"Nothing that you need to know about Raymond Perry," Naima said firmly, eyes twinkling. "Are those burgers almost done?"

Ray held his hands up in defeat, he knew better than to push Naima for information. The woman could lock tighter than Fort Knox when she had information that wasn't supposed to be shared. "They're done baby, and Davis just got here. If you ladies are all set in here, we can go out and get the party started."

Emma and Aunt Darcy shared a look, maybe Ray and Aunt Naima needed a moment to themselves with the look that they were sharing. Grinning to herself, Emma washed her hands and led Jameelah outside to sit at the picnic tables that were set up in the backyard. The party was in full swing and Emma watched Sonny place a sombrero on Aunt Lisa's head. They were really going to miss having her on OPs with them, but at the same time Emma knew that her boys were so unbelievably proud. She just hoped that Sonny would get his act together and stop playing around with her feelings before she had to stage an intervention.

Relaxing next to Clay, Emma let herself relax by his side. Her family was all around her, safe from the terrors that they protected the world from, and she was content to just be with them. Mikey was happy, playing with Cerberus in the yard and she could hear the happy squeal of RJ toddling alongside the gentle pup. Hannah and Jamie had finally figured themselves out, and while he was deployed, she knew in her heart that he would make it back to Hannah This was what she wanted in her life and she was determined to soak up every single second that she could, sure that the moment wouldn't last forever. The time that her family had spent on shore duty was coming to an end, she could feel it, the boys were getting that look, they would be deploying soon.

Her idyllic peace was shattered by a tearful Jameelah running up to her, burying her face into her chest, tiny shoulders heaving. Setting down her beer bottle, Emma heaved Jameelah onto her lap, sharing a look with Naima. "J, you gotta tell me what's going on? Did you fall?"

There was no response but Jameelah shook her head, tears still streaming down her face and onto her shoulders. Emma hummed gently, rocking her back and forth on her lap. Something had spooked the girl and she wasn't going to get an answer until the tears stopped. Slowly the sobs turned into sniffles and Jameelah tipped her face up to look at Emma. "The bad man is here," she whimpered.

Emma's heart stuttered in her chest. The son of a bitch wouldn't dare come to her house, not with everyone present. He didn't have the balls. It couldn't be him. "Baby, what bad man?" She forced herself to keep her voice calm and quiet, not wanting to alarm anyone more than necessary. The only people that were listening to her conversation right now were Clay and Naima and Emma would like to keep it that way. Clay stiffened next to her and squeezed her knee, but Emma couldn't focus on that right now. She would tell him later.

"The one that came, you told me to come get you if I saw him again. Aunt Darcy promised me that I could get ice cream and he was at the door. She sent me to come get you," Jameelah rushed out, skinny arms wrapping tightly around her neck.

Taking a deep breath, Emma pried the arms from around her neck and deposited her gently on Clay's lap, she would take care of this once and for all. "J, I want you to stay with Uncle Clay, ok? Can you keep him safe for me while I go take care of the bad man?" she questioned, looking at Clay. she wouldn't leave if Jameelah if Clay couldn't watch her for a bit.

"Yeah Little J, why don't you stay here, I don't want that bad man coming after me," Clay played along, sharing a long glance with Naima, who looked calm on the surface, but Clay knew better. Someone had come and threatened her children, she was anything but calm.

"The bad man's going to hurt you though," Jameelah whispered, starting to settle down. Nothing bad would happen to her if she was with Uncle Clay and mama.

"No way, I'll be totally fine," Emma reassured her, smile not reaching her eyes. She nodded at Naima and gave Clay a kiss on the cheek before going towards the house, hands clenching at her sides. She would take care of this once and for all, no one was going to come to her house and threaten her family.

Clay watched as Emma walked away from the table, blue sundress swinging in the light breeze. Jameelah was content to sit on his lap and pick at some of the watermelon left on the table so he didn't have to worry about entertaining her, but Clay could feel eyes on him.

"So, Blondie, you wanna share with the class what that one was about?" Sonny drawled, not giving two flying fucks that he was talking shop on a rare day off.

"She just went to go take care of something, I'm not really sure who Jameelah's talking about." Clay admitted, foot bouncing anxiously. It had been a while since Emma had gone into the house and while they didn't hear any yelling or fighting, Clay wasn't keen to leave her alone with someone that Jameelah dubbed 'the bad man'.

"All you need to know is that it's a man that I don't welcome into my home and neither does Emma," Naima said firmly, gripping her plastic utensils so hard that she bent the prongs of her fork as she ate. "If she's not back in the next ten minutes, I'm going to go inside and take care of this. Personally."

Sonny whistled lowly and turned to Ray, they very rarely got to see the blood thirsty side of Naima, but when mama bear was threatened, look out. Glancing down at the time on his watch, Sonny kept one eye peeled on the door and the other locked on Boy Wonder. Oh, he was pretending that he was calm, cool, and collected but Sonny knew those troubled baby blues. One little noise from the house and Clay would be off, but that would require any sign that there was even a conversation occurring. On the outside, the house looked just as it did on any other day, but inside there was a battle being waged.

Just as the ten-minute mark was approaching, Emma came out the back door, face still flushed with anger. Jameelah wiggled her way off of Clay's lap and ran across the yard to be scooped into Emma's arms. They whispered to each other for a moment before Emma set her down and watched the little girl be distracted by Cerberus.

Emma could feel the eyes of her family on her and knew that they wanted answers, but she didn't know exactly what she wanted to tell them. How does one tell their family that an Admiral keeps asking you to translate something that he could very easily find within the agency? It didn't make sense and the only reason that Emma could think of was that he was trying to keep it hidden, and she wanted no part in that. Admiral Edward Stevens was the only person on the planet that she disliked more than Ash Spenser, and it took a lot to pass that son of bitch.

Uncle Charlie had promised her that he was sending Richie Stevens away, but he couldn't do anything about his father, the rich enabler that had brought his son up to do as he pleased without any regard to the consequences. At least with Ash you knew that you were getting a piece of shit excuse for a human, but with Richie? He seemed like a nice, normal, Navy brat when you first met him. But the minute you said no or didn't agree with him, he flipped a switch. Combined with his stunning personality, Emma didn't like the way he stared just a little too long at Jameelah, but that wasn't an accusation that she would make without undeniable truth. It was better to just have Jameelah stay as far away from him as possible, hence the creation of the 'bad man' title. Emma would do whatever it took to keep her family safe, even if it meant stretching the truth.

Approaching the table, Emma swiped the beer out of Clay's hands and took a long drag before settling down in between Clay and Naima. "I took care of it," she said to Naima, who nodded once and clinked her beer bottle with hers. For the rest of the afternoon there was no more talk of the stranger and Emma preferred it that way. Davis was properly lauded and the beer was flowing as the party moved from outside into her living room as more and more people trickled out. Soon it was just her and Clay cleaning up the rest of the beer bottles in a comfortable silence, though Emma knew that there was something on the tip of his tongue.

Breaking the silence, Emma stood in front of Clay. "Admiral Stevens came to the door today, that's who Jameelah calls the bad man," she admitted, not liking the way that Clay flushed in anger.

"What did that son of a bitch want with you? And what the hell did he do to Jameelah?" he said tersely, scrubbing down the counter a little more forcefully than necessary.

"He didn't do anything to Jameelah, I told her to stay away from him before he _could _do anything. I don't like the way that he looks at her, Naima doesn't like him either," Emma soothed, skirting the first question. Clay would explode if he saw the way that Admiral Stevens looked at Jameelah, but she didn't want to have that conversation right at this moment. There would be mutiny if any of the other boys found out and she doubted that Clay would be able to keep this information from his brothers. "He keeps asking me for help in translating a video, something about how I can sign in multiple dialects. I told him to find an interpreter from the agency, I don't want any part in that."

"It doesn't matter how many different dialects that you can sign in, he knows better. You don't have the security clearance to look at those videos!" Clay raged, fists tightening at his sides and a flush spreading across his cheeks. There had to be something that he wasn't disclosing. An admiral doesn't just ask the daughter of a SEAL to translate a video out of the goodness of her heart.

"I know, babe," Emma whispered, wrapping her arms around his waist and tipping her face up to his. "I told him no, he can't force me to translate, I'm not contracted by the Navy or the CIA. He's just popping up to be annoying at this point, my answer hasn't changed in the last two months."

"And what's gonna happen when I-" Clay cut himself off and looked down guilty at Emma. he hadn't told her that he was deploying at the end of the week, a deployment that didn't exactly have an end date in sight.

"I know you're deploying, Clay," Emma said softly, leading him over to the couch. They needed to have this conversation sooner rather than later and there was no time like the present. "You've had the look since Tuesday, I was waiting for you to tell me."

And that one phrase was a kick in the balls, Clay had tried to keep a happy face for Emma when they had gotten the orders, but it seemed that his girl was too smart for that facade. "I didn't know how to, this is the first time that I haven't wanted to be deployed, Emmie K. I want to ignore the order and stay here with you."

"You wouldn't be happy if you stayed Clay, you'd be worried every second. Dad was when Adam ran with you, and it would be pointless. You'd be here physically, but _you_ would be out there with the boys."

"I know," Clay sighed. He wanted so badly to combine his two lives but at this point, there wasn't a way to mesh them, not without losing out on something.

"Do you know how long it's going to be? Or where you're going?" Emma prodded. She could deal with deployments; hell her dad had been deployed for most of her life. She just needed an end date.

"I know where we're going but there's no end date in sight, it looks like until we finish the OP, which could be a while…" Clay trailed off, thinking about a long few months without his girl by his side. They had gotten comfortable with each other, sleeping side by side and tackling the world together, and now they would have to figure out how to do it separated again.

"Then we had better make the most of the time we have left," Emma replied. "We have the rest of the week together; I think I can convince dad to let me spend a few nights with you this weekend."

"I'd love that, Emmie K."

Neither spoke for a while, content to be in each other's arms on the couch. The tv was playing but they weren't watching it closely, and if you listened you could hear the cackles of her uncles in the backyard around the fire pit. Half asleep, Emma heard a knock on the door and untangled herself from a dozing Clay.

It was almost eight o'clock in the evening, who the hell was knocking? Wrenching the door open, Emma didn't find anyone standing on the doorstep, but there was a flat package on the doorstep with no return address. Tearing through the tape, Emma unpacked a sealed envelope and felt her hands begin to shake.

The first picture was of her and Hannah in the mall, trying on dresses for prom, laughing and smiling, unknowing that someone was watching their every move.

The next was of Mikey on the rink, a smile on his face.

The last picture was of herself standing in the window of Clay's apartment holding a mug of coffee in his t-shirt as Clay kissed her neck.

Dropping the photos onto the table, Emma took a deep breath and screamed. "Clay!"


	2. Chapter 2

As the sun sank behind the horizon, Jason settled into his chair and tipped the beer bottle to his lips. He was surrounded by his brothers, there was good food and a seemingly endless amount of booze. He was headed out for another deployment at the end of the week, but he wasn't anxious. They were ready for this. The last two months had strengthened their bonds and put his mind at ease, Emma and Mikey were taken care of and they would get through this deployment. Hopefully it wouldn't be long, for the first time in a long time he was dreading deploying, and he had a sneaking suspicion that Clay wasn't thrilled about leaving Emma either and he didn't know quite how to process that information, or if he was supposed to do anything about Clay's indecision. Great. More things to worry about in the middle of the night.

Then there was Davis. He was proud of her for going into something that she had been working for her entire career in the Navy, but losing the person that they depended on more than anyone in the field was going to be tough, especially on Sonny. While there was never any official notification from his brother that there was _something_ between them, Jason had been an operator for over twenty years. There was something there, but as long as they didn't say anything… he had some plausible deniability, and he was ok with that. As far as he was concerned what they had was good, and you didn't waste good. He would turn a blind eye for as long as it took for them to figure their shit out together, he just hoped it would be sooner rather than later. Sonny Quinn settling down was a momentous occasion that deserved to be celebrated, or mourned depending on who you asked, and Jason didn't want to miss out.

"You boys ready to roll out on Friday?" Davis commented, leaning a little more heavily on Sonny's shoulder. Yeah there was nothing going on between them, _sure._

"I think so, Emma's got her feet under her and we've had enough time to run the drills, we're good," Jason replied, happy when his brothers nodded along with him in agreement. "Hopefully the Kid has already told Emma that we're deploying, I need to go over some paperwork with her before we go on base tomorrow."

Chuckles filled the humid air as they thought of the many ways that Clay had tried to bring up the conversation in the previous week. At one point or another they had all seen Clay try and fail to gather up the courage to tell Emma about the deployment, but if Jason was to bet, Emma already knew that they were deploying. She was just like Alana in that aspect, claiming that they all had a look before they were set to go out.

"Ya know, Davis, the only bad thing about you leaving for OCS is that we gotta break in a whole new greenie to deal with half the bullshit that Blondie needs on deployment, not to mention all the 'necessary' equipment that you somehow manage to wrangle for us," Sonny chuckled, nudging her shoulder gently. And that was the true Sonny Quinn way, make a joke so that no one will see how much he cares. They all saw through that bullshit, but Jason would let him pretend for the night.

"I think you mean someone that would put up with your bullshit and remember which brand of beer you like," Lisa ribbed back. She would miss just sitting with the boys on the transports after a mission and shooting the shit, but this was her dream. Her boys had found and followed theirs and now it was her turn. Bravo was family, they would never truly lose each other.

"Nah Davis, you know I don't have any bullshit, all my shit if just fine, thank you very much. Now _Clay,_ he is the one full of -"

The peace that Jason had felt shattered as every single hair on his body stood on end at the sound of Emma's scream and everything stood still. For a split second, Jason wasn't sure if they were in Jbad or if they were in Virginia Beach but his child was screaming and he needed to get to her, needed to protect her; losing her wasn't an option.

Sprinting up the lawn, Jason heard the footfalls of his brothers behind him, but there wasn't time to formulate a plan and execute, hell he wasn't even sure if there was a plan. He had never heard Emma scream like that, not even at her brother and the underlying panic in her voice made Jason uneasy. They were home, nothing bad should happen before they even had a chance to leave the country. They were home.

There was a stunned silence in Jason's wake before Trent sprung up to his feet. "Oh for fuck's sake, Davis, do you have my kit?" Trent didn't bother to wait for an answer, he just jogged behind Jason and flung the screen door open to the kitchen, trusting that the kit would come through the doors. She always knew what they needed before they had to ask and it would be insulting to think that she didn't bring at least a small first aid kit to an event involving fire and alcohol. She was better than that.

"I'm sure everything is fine, Blondie just surprised her, nothing to see here," Sonny explained, gesturing wildly with hands so that he could put on a brave face for his brothers, though his palms itched to smack anyone who had hurt his sunshine. They all sat for a moment before getting to their feet, even if it was nothing they wouldn't be able to think straight until they saw both Emma and Clay with their own two eyes. Emma's scream was replaying in their minds and was sure to feature in several of their nightmares, they needed to see that she was safe.

None of them were prepared for what they saw when the opened the door; not even their worst day in Jbad could have prepared them for that moment.

Emma felt her hands shake and bile well up in her throat. Someone was watching her, they knew where she lived and was _following _her every move. It could be anyone, and they could be watching her right at this moment. Emma opened her mouth to scream again when she heard panicked footsteps running from the living room and all of the breath that she had been holding stuttered out of her chest.

She couldn't think.

Couldn't move.

Couldn't speak.

Couldn't even breathe.

Someone was watching her, and if they could get close to her, without her realizing, they could get to Mikey. To RJ. To Jameelah. They were everywhere and nowhere all at once and the only thought that Emma could produce was that she needed her family.

Eyes darting, Emma searched through the photos spread out on the table again. Thinking back to the moments when she knew that they were being taken, she genuinely couldn't remember anyone that was out of place or anyone that seemed like they didn't belong. And she never would remember that because she wasn't on the lookout for something that was out of place because she thought that she was safe, a concept that she would never get back.

She wasn't safe, she was being _watched._

The footsteps that Emma heard behind her stopped and she whirled around to a face full of Clay Spenser's heaving chest. Throwing her arms around his waist, Emma breathed in the comforting scent of his cologne and the faint hint of gunpowder on his shirt and buried her face in his neck. Clay would protect her, she was safe with him.

"Emma, honey, talk to me. What's going on?" Clay asked, swaying gently back and forth. He could feel her trembling in his arms and her tears were creating warm wet spots on his shirt as her sobs broke free from her chest. "Emmie K, I'm here, I got you, breathe," he continued to murmur platitudes into her ear and searched the room with his limited line of vision. He hears rather than sees Jason burst in through the door and not two minutes later the rest of his brothers are barreling through and the room becomes overrun with confusion, apprehension, and testosterone. None of which is conducive to getting any useful information or settling an already overwhelmed individual.

"Emma! What happened? Are you alright? Is it Mikey?" Jason panted, standing over the two of them and pacing like a caged lion.

"Sunshine, do you need me to beat up Blondie? Say the word, I'll hold him so you can take a swing at him, just please stop crying." Sonny pleaded from his place by the door.

"Emma, try and take deep breaths, you're going to pass out if you keep hyperventilating, don't make me give you the mask that I have for Clay in my kit, deep breaths Em." Trent coached, rubbing her back and glaring at Jason. If she was having a panic attack it probably wasn't the best idea to make her _more_ nervous.

"Clay what the hell happened? Did someone come to the door?" Ray shouted over the bickering between Sonny and Jason, they needed answers, not a pissing contest. Clay was the only one that was with Emma, he had to know something.

Cerberus let out a might bark and growled at Trent from her place next to Emma and Eric tried his best to get all of his men to calm down and shut up but nothing would settle the men, not even promises of hill running that evening.

"Son of a motherfucking asshole," Brock bit out quietly, grabbing the photos from the table, face turning red with rage.

Each man stopped and turned, mouths falling open without a sound.

"Brock?" Clay questioned, lifting his head from Emma's to glance over his shoulder as Brock flipped through the pictures. Tightening his arms around her waist, Clay pressed a kiss to her forehead and breathed in deeply through his nose to contain his rage. "Boss, you better see this," he whispered, closing his eyes. It would do no good to fly off the handle at this moment, Emma needed him to stay calm.

Jason's eyebrows rose on his forehead, Clay was breaking out 'boss' in his kitchen and actively going through the exercises the shrink gave them to 'manage their anger' in a 'healthy and appropriate manner' or some other crock of bullshit. This was bad. Holding his hand out to Brock, Jason swore silently and passed them to Eric before pacing in front of the window where he could still see the remnants of the party and the fire blazing. Of all the fucking times for a problem to rear it's fucking head it had to be before he deployed, taking the majority of Emma's support system along with him. "I'm calling Mandy, we're getting this thing settled tonight," he growled, fists clenched at his sides as he grabbed his work phone and stalked back out on the deck.

"I'll put in a call to Charlie, hopefully he can pull more strings," Eric said quietly, noting that Emma had yet to say a word or lift her face from Clay's chest. He had hoped that the time that Bravo had spent on standby would have helped to rebuild the young woman's confidence, but this would be a major setback. He just hoped it didn't take her all the way back to the beginning, he was starting to like the young woman that she was becoming. This was going to be one hell of a conversation and Eric just hoped that Charlie would keep _his_ cool long enough to act appropriately. The man had a soft spot a mile wide for Emma Hayes and would not take kindly to someone threatening _his _kid.

"Please don't leave me," Emma whispered into Clay's ear, hoping that no one else would overhear. They all heard anyways, but pretended that this moment was for them, that there was some manner of privacy and dignity still afforded to them.

"I'm not going anywhere Em, not until you tell me to leave. Let's go into the living room, the guys will make sure that there isn't anyone in the house," Clay soothed, noting when Emma's breathing sped up as her eyes darted to every window and door in the living room. Was there someone outside her door right now? Could they see into her bedroom? Were there pictures of her and Clay, _doing,_ things?

"Clay, I can't, please don't go," Emma cried, hot tears pricking the corners of her eyes as the lump in her throat swelled once again.

"I won't, I'm right here with you," Clay reassured her, tugging her gently to the couch. Sitting beside her, Clay wrapped his arms around her and let her cry, heart fracturing further with every sob that wrestled it's way out of her throat. "I won't let anything happen to you, I promise Emma Kate, I'm right here."

"Alright Sunshine, I checked all the windows and doors down here, they're all locked tighter than Fort Knox," Sonny babbled, shutting the blinds in the living room. Tears always made him uncomfortable and Lisa wasn't even around to help him, she had gone to make sure that Mikey was ok at the Porter's. His brothers were just as useless with crying women as he was, so they were no help and Blondie was just trying to get himself together. This was a shit show and a half and it was only just beginning. "Brock and Cerb are upstairs and I think your old man is still on the phone with Mandy."

"Thanks Uncle Sonny," Emma whispered, refusing to turn away from Clay to look at him. If she couldn't see anything that meant no one else could see her, and she very much preferred it that way at this moment in time.

Sonny sat down in 'his' arm chair and looked over at Clay, wishing that he could do something to take away some of the fear that Emma was feeling. No one should be able to fill his vibrant, fun-loving niece with so much fear that she couldn't even look someone in the eye. They would pay for this and Sonny Quinn was not afraid to go to prison if it meant keeping his Sunshine safe, his brothers would be right there with him. Hell, they'd probably find a way to share the cell with him.

The three of them sat in silence and vaguely heard the sounds of Jason yelling on the porch and Eric's calming tones from the kitchen. The clacking of Cerberus's nails on the floor above them and the gentle closing of doors as Brock made his way through the upstairs rooms. Her family was around her and they would make this place secure if it was the last thing that they did. She just wished that she could have them make her entire world secure, it wasn't like she could hide out in her house for a few months with Mikey and Hannah until this blew over or her boys came home.

_Hannah_.

"Clay!" Emma said sitting upright, breath catching in her throat. "Hannah, did someone go to Hannah's house?"

"Ray went down there as soon as he could, she's fine. Victoria is there with her and they're making sure the alarm system works. Hannah's fine,"

"And the kids?"

"Everyone is fine Emmie K, we're all good, we're safe," Clay soothed, tugging her back into his chest. Emma nodded against his chest and tried to close her eyes, but every sound made her jump. Was that a branch against the window or was it someone trying to break in? Was that Uncle Eric pacing in the kitchen or was someone already in her house? Finally relaxing enough to settle, Emma was almost asleep when the front door banged open and she jumped, whimpering slightly at the noise.

"It's me Em," Jason said wearily, the tension in the room felt more like an OPs briefing that his living room and with the various phone calls that he just made, Jason felt like he had already deployed. "I just talked to Mandy, she's going to reach out to a contact of hers that does PI stuff, Eric's still on the phone with Uncle Charlie. We're gonna get this figured out," he promised. Clay knew that there was more to what Jason was telling her, but he wasn't going to pry in this moment. The priority was getting Emma to rest and developing a plan, they would get him up to speed once Emma was taken care of for the night. "We're gonna get everything figured out outside and then come back in for the night, I'll lock up before I go to bed. Just try and rest for a bit Em, we're not going anywhere."

Emma nodded and tightened her hold on Clay's shirt, her dad and her uncles could go outside and clean up but Clay wasn't moving. She wanted him with her, even if it made her look like a little girl. "I'm staying in Em, let's turn on a movie or something, see if we can nap down here for a bit?"

Clay watched the indecision play out on her face for a moment before she reached out for the remote and he heard his brothers file out the back door. Turning at the last moment, he whistled for Cerberus and had him lie on the couch next to Emma and smiled when she began to comb through her fur. They watched mind numbing television and quickly lost track of time until Emma's breathing evened out and she snored gently against his chest.

This was definitely not the time to be deploying, his girl wasn't safe and they weren't even sure how to begin ensuring her safety. They weren't on an OP, there was no mission objective to complete and he was feeling more than a little lost at the thought of disobeying his command and going AWOL. Clay would take any punishment if it meant that he could keep Emma safe, but she was right. He wouldn't be able to be one hundred percent with her if his brothers were deployed in some hell hole; he would want to be with them.

He was stuck between a rock and a hard place, either he protects his brothers and hopes that he can come home to Emma, safe and sound, or he stays with Emma and hopes that all of his brothers make it back to him for another spin up. Neither option was good, neither option made him happy, and neither option was easy. Listening to the muffled voices of his brothers outside, Clay just hoped that the last few days he could be on American soil would be spent with Emma, regardless of how Jason felt about Emma spending the night at his apartment. He wasn't going to let her out of his sight and Jason was just going to have to deal with it, he needed to keep her safe.

When he was satisfied that Emma was asleep, he shifted her until she was lying down on the couch with Cerberus curled around her feet. Tucking the blankets further around her shoulders, he stalked into the kitchen and sat down across from Jason and Eric at the kitchen table. "How are we working the problem?" he said simply, hoping that there was some sort of plan in place while he was comforting Emma.

Eric sighed in frustration and rubbed his palm through the thinning hair on the top of his head. If he thought the scrapes that his men got into while they were deployed were bad, he wouldn't know what to do with himself when it wasn't a problem that he could fix with a well placed RPG. His family was threatened and he could do nothing to fix it. "Charlie is digging, Mandy's going through favors to get into the traffic cams and security footage. We don't have much to go on aside from the pictures."

"So we can't do anything," Clay growled standing abruptly.

"There's nothing _to _do. We don't have any information, there's no one to schwack, let Mandy and Charlie work, they'll come up with something," Jason stated, rubbing his tired eyes.

"What do we do in the meantime?" Clay said, holding onto the chair for support.

"You're staying here with Emma, I'm going to base with Eric. Sonny and Davis are with Hannah and Victoria, Ray went back to Naima, and Trent and Brock went to go check on Darcy and Amelia. Keep your phone on, I'll call in if I find anything," Jason stood abruptly and snagged his phone off the table before following Eric out, leaving Clay with a sleeping Emma. Lifting her into his arms, Clay brings her back up to her bedroom and slowly starts to get her into bed for the night. Replacing her pretty blue sundress with one of his t shirts, Clay unhooked the bra from underneath her shirt and pulled the covers up to her chin. Getting into bed next to her, Clay knew that he wasn't going to be able to sleep. His mind was racing and he felt the panic start to well up in his chest. He wasn't going to be able to protect Emma and something was going to happen, he couldn't lose her, they only just started their life together. Forcing himself to calm, Clay tucked his face into Emma's shoulder and breathed in the sweet scent of her shampoo. Everything would be fine as long as she was with him, they would figure out what to do for deployment. It would be fine.


	3. Chapter 3

The next morning dawned far too quickly for Clay's liking, early morning sun creeping over the edge of the window bathing Emma's face in a soft glow. Clay managed to get a few hours of sleep, but he would wake up every other hour to check that Emma was still beside him. At least she had gotten more sleep than he had, she deserved it after the night that they had, and he was sure that today was going to bring even more challenges. Hopefully Mandy and Harrington had managed to dig something up and they could find this son of bitch before they had to deploy. Deep down he knew that this wasn't going to be resolved in a few days,

Clay heard the sheets rustle next to him as Emma rolled over towards him, legs tangling with his and her soft breath on his neck. "Emmie K, you awake?"

Emma shook her head and buried her face deeper into his chest, she was awake, but she definitely didn't want to be, not yet. "No," she grumbled, twisting her fingers in the soft cotton of his shirt.

"Got it babe," Clay chuckled. "Definitely not awake." Clay was unprepared for the soft smack on his shoulder and pulled Emma closer to him. He would never turn down an opportunity to see Emma in the morning when she hasn't had time to put the 'grown-up' mask on, he loved it when she was silly and light hearted and maybe even a little cranky first thing in the morning. It was just another piece of the woman he loved, and he planned on telling her every single day that he was able.

"Clay," Emma whispered, tilting her face up to look at him. "Last night wasn't a dream, was it?" her voice wobbled, but she was proud of herself for making it through without crying. The happy dream world that she had been living in for the past two months had shattered and left a nightmare in its wake.

"No Em, it wasn't a dream," Clay said, running his thumb over her cheek. "We called Charlie and Mandy and we're going to get to the bottom of this, you're not alone."

"What if they go after the kids or they go after you or they try and do something -"

"Emma," Clay interrupted. "Naima is with the kids and Ray is going to make sure that they're taken care of, Mikey is with the Porter's, and if he tries to go after any of us, we'll gladly take him out before the day is done. I just need you to help me keep you safe, I know I don't have any right to say this right now, but I can't deploy if you're not safe. I can't do it Em."

Tears welled up in Emma's eyes and for a moment he thought that she was going to disagree with him, claim that she could take care of herself, all of which was true and Clay knew that, he just needed to be able to come back to his girl at the end of his deployment. "I will, Clay. I'll be safe, I promise." Emma tipped her head up and pressed her lips against Clay's relishing in the soft warmth he exuded and the strength that he carried in his arms.

It felt as if time stood still, all that Emma could feel was Clay all around her. Neither her nor Clay tried to move past the gentle kisses that were being traded back and forth and for once, Emma didn't feel like she needed to take it further to prove her love. She was content to just be with Clay for another moment and she knew that she wouldn't get these opportunities for a long time once he was deployed. She wouldn't take any moment for granted.

The soft click of nails on the hardwood penetrated the fog in Emma's brain and she pulled away from Clay just in time to see Cerberus hop onto her bed and cover her face with puppy kisses. "Good morning Cerb," she laughed, eyes twinkling with delight. Even through the tension and confusion of the moment, Cerberus was always there to cheer her up when she needed some good old-fashioned cuddles. "Did someone send you up here to come get Clay and I?" she asked, rubbing the pup's ears as she rolled around on her bed, looking for belly rubs.

"I did," Brock said knocking gently on the doorframe. "Your dad and Sonny decided to send me up to come get you guys for breakfast, and someone's here to see you Em."

"More like Uncle Sonny didn't want to have to use any brain bleach this early in the morning," Emma chuckled, tucking her hair nervously behind her ear. Uncle Brock joined the team well after Sonny and Trent and knew her for the shortest amount of time. It was still awkward to have someone that she thought of as an uncle find her in bed with her boyfriend, but she could only imagine what it would turn into if Trent or Ray had come to wake her. Or God forbid, Sonny.

"You might be right on that one kiddo, I'll give you both a couple of minutes, but no promises on keeping Sonny entertained."

"We'll be down in a few minutes man, thanks," Clay agreed, sitting up next to Emma. His brothers were starting to come to terms with the fact that he and Emma had a more adult relationship, but that didn't mean that he wanted them to come face to face with that knowledge. Ignorance was bliss in some instances and he was quite attached to his alone time with Emma.

Brock nodded and whistled for Cerberus. The pup cocked her head and reluctantly followed Brock down the steps again away from her belly rubs. When the door closed, Emma stood up reluctantly and stretched, the large t shirt that she wore rode high on her hips. "I don't want to go downstairs, are you sure we can't just stay here?"

"Yeah, we do," Clay sighed, picking up his jeans from the floor. He needed to start leaving stuff at Emma's place for moments like these. Or maybe he could stop dancing around the subject and ask Emma to move in with him when she started school. Either way it was a conversation for another day. "I would do anything to spend the rest of the morning, in this bed, with you and no one else but we need to get up."

Clay wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head before making his way down the stairs to the sounds of his brothers. He was prepared for the sounds of heckling and whistles when he walked through the door, but the kitchen was silent. Sonny was flipping pancakes on the griddle and Ray was pouring up cups of coffee, but there was a tension that Clay wasn't used to seeing in the Hayes' household. Keeping his mouth shut, he looked around the table and saw the stern faces of Mandy and Charles Harrington. Something had happened. "What's going on? Did you find the son of a bitch already?"

"No," Mandy said quietly, putting down the file that she was reading. "We didn't find anything that pointed us to new intel. I'm still digging."

"No disrespect, but then why do both of you look like someone died," Clay paused for a moment and questioned tentatively, "No one died right?"

"We're here to see Emma," Harrington said, draining the rest of his coffee. "I tried to keep her out of this for as long as I could, but Stevens isn't taking no for an answer anymore and I can only come up with so many excuses. I'm out of options."

Clay looked around the room and exploded. "It doesn't matter what he wants, Emma isn't contracted by the CIA and she's not enlisted. He should have no damn say in any of this!" His brothers were all silent around him and he turned to them incredulously. "Jace, you agreed to this?"

"She's eighteen, has translated before for far less reason than this. I don't have a say in what she can and can't do anymore and if he decides to try her for contempt and obstruction, he would have a good case. There's nothing I can do," Jason scowled.

"Clay? What's wrong? Why are you shouting?" Emma panted, racing into the kitchen. "Mandy? Uncle Charlie?"

"Hi kid," Uncle Charlie said, hugging her gently. "I need to ask you something, and I need you to really think about what you're going to say." He waited until she looked at him in the eyes, searching for something, though Emma wasn't entirely sure what he was looking for, of course she would consider whatever he was asking of her, she owed him that much.

"Of course, Uncle Charlie, you know that."

"I need you to translate the video."

A desperate silence flooded the kitchen, no one dared to breathe too deeply lest they shattered the fragile peace. Emma stepped back hesitantly from Harrington, hands sweating and breath stuttering in her chest. Looking to Jason, she couldn't read the expression on his face and the faces of her uncles ranged from anger to confusion to a measured sadness. Turning on a dime, she looked to Clay, hoping that he didn't know anything before they came down to breakfast. Hoping that he was on her side.

"I wouldn't be asking you if I had another choice, Emma. I promise you; one video and he can never ask you again." Charlie Harrington said, holding his hands up soothingly, unsurprised when Emma took a step backwards towards Clay.

"You don't know that; you can't know that. We've said that before and he has always found a new way to get me involved in things that I have no business knowing."

"I can," Mandy said, standing from her place at the table. "I've already assured that you can no longer be used for translations. You're off the list, no one can ask you to do something that you don't want to anymore, including the Navy."

Emma rubbed her hands over her face and paced back and forth. Was it worth one last translation to never get asked to do this ever again? What was so incredibly special on that tape that they needed someone who was fluent in several different dialects of sign language and why the hell they couldn't find someone else to do it, anyone else for that matter. "Can you tell me why they want me to do this?"

"It's a child, looks like she's eight or nine. She speaks, but she also signs," Mandy explains, handing over the file to Emma. "Stevens knows that you're good with children. The only other translator that can identify these dialects isn't exactly...friendly."

"Why does it matter if he's friendly or not, isn't this just a recording?" Emma questioned, tucking her hair behind her ears.

"We're hoping that we pick up more of her videos via chatter, maybe even get her live. For now, this is what we have, but hopefully we'll be able to do something."

Emma nodded and flipped through the stills from the video, muttering half-heartedly to herself, "So she lost her hearing after she learned to speak, what language is she speaking? Does she sign fluently?"

When Mandy didn't reply, Emma looked up at her expectantly. "Verbally, Spanish. I don't know much about sign language, it's not a language that I'm familiar with," she admitted, pouring Emma a cup of coffee.

"Does she sign with one hand or two? Combine verbal words with signed words? Switch dialects in the middle of phrases? How many words can she sign per minute?" When no one answered, she looked up from her file and took a sip from her mug "This would be why he wanted me to translate," she sighed. "I'm not doing this on base, you can get the video for me to translate it at home. You're going to need to get me clearance as well."

"I can do that," Harrington stated. He would have found a way to get anything that Emma demanded if only to get Admiral Stevens off of his ass. "You have the clearance already; I can access the video from my laptop."

"Then let's get this over with." Emma drained the rest of her coffee and accepted a plate of pancakes from Sonny. "Can someone take notes while I translate, sometimes it's too much to write and listen at the same time."

"How does one listen to sign language?" Trent mused, pulling out one of the countless field notebooks that he stashed in his kit.

"It's a figure of speech, Uncle Trent. Sign language is like another language, with unique signs for each region and different locations of the world. One sign in ASL could be completely different in someone that uses BSL, even different regions of the United States have 'accents' depending on how fast or slow they sign and which hand they use."

"How on Earth did you figure that out," Sonny drawled, taking off the apron and starting on his own stack of pancakes. Emma looked better than she did last night but Sonny wasn't going to take any chances. If Ms. Mandy started to overstay her welcome, he had no problem with escorting her off of the property, mission be damned. His Sunshine had enough to deal with already.

Giggling lightly, Emma scratched the back of her head. "Hannie and I started to get into it when we were younger, we wanted a way to communicate where Mikey couldn't pick up what we were talking about, Hannie didn't get much past the basics, but I liked it so I kept studying it. It's been rather useful."

"You and Hannah Seaver figured out ASL on your own and started using it so you could gossip without your brother knowing about it?" Ray said incredulously.

"Well, not just ASL, at the end Mikey was catching on so we incorporated other dialects. It's how I got so good at differentiating, Hannie and I would switch if we thought that he knew what we were talking about."

"And you say I'm the genius," Clay huffed, chest puffed with pride.

"Says the polyglot who got into Princeton," Emma threw over her shoulder. "When I decided not to go into intelligence or the Navy it became more of a party trick than anything useful. Until now, I guess. Little girl secrets were important to protect from little brothers, and over the years we forgot most of it, I'm not sure if Hannah even remembers anymore."

"In the past, how did you do this?" Harrington asked, logging onto the computer and accessing the fingerprint scanner on the keypad.

"I'll watch the video through once, anything verbal I'll translate first, then try and determine which dialects she uses, if it's more than one. The second time I'll verbalize what she's signing for the gist of the message. Then I go frame by frame, hopefully it doesn't switch too often. How long is the video?"

"Four and a half minutes, not long at all."

"Maybe if she was speaking, but you can get a lot across if you're signing. I'm assuming that everyone has the clearance to watch this, and that I can't ask more questions to clarify, just translate what's on the screen."

"Correct," Harrington said, taken aback at how quickly she turned herself into a translator from the fresh-faced teenager that came down the stairs.

"Uncle Brock can you take the notes?" At his nod, Emma hit play and hoped that she was ready for what she was going to see.

She wasn't. The camera shook and a little girl appeared at the bottom corner of the screen, almost like she wasn't sure how to work the camera. Emma smiled at the tiny wave that she gave and a giggle. Then her hands were moving and there was no time to smile, Emma was just lucky she made it through the video without crying from the injustice. The video cut off suddenly and she took a deep breath in through her nose and out through her mouth. "Cerb," she called quietly, raking her nails through her fur while gathering her thoughts.

"Well?" Harrington questioned, not liking the silence.

"Don't rush her," Clay practically growled from his place next to her at the table.

"She's young, didn't learn to sign from a school, someone most likely taught her the basic after she lost her hearing." Emma rewound the video and pressed play, slowing the speed down. "See how she switches which hand she signs with, most pick a preference and stick with it, but she doesn't. She only speaks one word, which was hello, the rest was signed. She finger spells for a lot of it, which is partly why the video is so long, and the message repeats twice, like she's unsure that we'll understand what she's saying."

"What is she saying?"

"A lot. Brock you ready for round two?"

"Ready whenever you are," Brock said, flipping to a new sheet in the notebook.

Emma pressed play again, but this time slowed the footage down, till it was going at half speed. "She's saying that her name is Elena Lopes, and that she needs to be quick because she's not supposed to be in her father's office? No that's not right, um, maybe she means study, I haven't seen that sign before," Emma sighed in frustration. "I wish this was live so I could have her finger spell what she means," she lamented.

"Take your time, it doesn't have to be perfect," Trent soothed, trying to keep the kitchen free from any tension that might arise. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Clay's shoulders and back tighten, and his fingers were drumming absently on his thighs. It wouldn't go over well if he got agitated along with Emma. "Go again."

Emma nodded and turned her gaze back on the screen where the girl was crouching behind a desk, face dirty and eyes wide. "She's saying that she's seven, her father is part of the," her fingers spelled rapidly in her lap as she worked to decipher the spelling. "Marina? I'm assuming some sort of army or militia depending on the location."

"That's good Em, keep going," Harrington said, sharing a loaded glance with Jason. No one had been briefed yet, but the information that was received from this video could be important. More important than Emma would ever know about.

"She saw a shooting, felt the vibrations of the noise through her window and ran out to the street. Her father's car, marked. Then she's babbling about a ghost with the powder? She's not making much sense to me and I don't understand the powder reference, unless she's using it for slang for heroin, but that's a stretch. The last thing she says is that she wants someone to help, she wants her father to be able to play soccer with her again. Then the message repeats."

"She doesn't mention names or locations, nothing that would indicate where she's from?" Mandy pressed, she was hoping that this little girl was somewhere in the middle of a drug war, one that she was preparing to send her guys into, an exact location was what they were waiting for to get the green light.

"I can tell you that she's in Mexico," Emma said, shrugging.

"You can tell all of that from two minutes of signing?" Ray said, not sure he was believing what was happening in front of him. "You have no way of knowing anything but her name and her age and that her father is in the military, all things that she told you directly."

"She's using a different alphabet from ASL, and she uses letters that are unique to Spanish. If she was from Spain, she would firstly have more of an education and would be signing much slower. I can't really help you pinpoint a location more than that, Mexico is my best guess, but it could be anywhere in Central America."

"It still essentially tells us nothing," Ray pointed out. Stevens was putting his niece under stress for a video that had nothing useful, it didn't sit well with him. Emma had no part of anything the Navy was doing, she was supposed to stay safe at home, not that home was incredibly safe at the moment, but that was a different problem.

"Maybe not, but I'm sure I'll find something, and this gets him off our backs, thank you Emma. You know, Andy was sad when you turned down the agency," Mandy said, packing up her files.

"I never really considered it, Mandy. I'm sure that I'm not the first person that you've tried to recruit right out of high school. Navy brats are notorious for talking to one another and if you think the SEAL community is small, you should see the network that the kids create, we all still talk even if we're in different parts of the globe. And what, I was going to graduate high school and ship out to the farm on August first? Who was going to take care of Mikey?"

"How do you know when we ship out?" Mandy said quietly, blue eyes meeting blue.

"Like I said, we talk. Your secrets are not nearly as well kept as you think, and even if it was never explicitly stated, we're smart. We can put two and two together and get four. My family deserves me home, and this allows me to do so while still making a difference. The CIA was never an option."

"This network of kids, how many are there?" Harrington questioned, his pride for his niece growing more as she got older. She was turning into a young woman that would make Alana damn proud.

"Fifteen at most? A lot of them are kids of people that operated with my dad or on another team, you probably all knew their fathers at some point, or they're still operating. We have a groupchat, numbers we call if we can't get a hold of someone in a different country. I know who's deployed and where. Hell, I'm on most of their notification lists if they are deployed. We're close, we were brought up that way. Teams are the only family you need, even the kids." Emma said firmly, reaching for a drawer in the island and pulling out a flip phone that Jason had never seen before. Did they still even make flip phones? "This phone has every single number, if something happens to me, Mikey knows where this is and who to call after letting one of you know. We take care of our own."

"How come none of us knew about it?" Jason said quietly, skirting around the issue that Emma had a goddamn contingency plan. What eighteen-year-old had a plan in case something went wrong? Only his daughter.

"Uncle Adam suggested it, Jamie and Hannie took the idea and ran with it." Looking at all of the stunned faces around her, Emma scoffed and stacked the dishes on top of one another to be loaded into the dishwasher. "That reminds me, I have to fill everyone in on what happened last night, Jamie's going to be a nightmare when he finds out."

With one sentence, Emma reminded them of the danger that was still lurking in suburbia, one that they couldn't yet identify. One that would linger long after they had deployed at the end of the week.

"You never cease to amaze me, Emma Kate," Brock said closing the notebook and handing it to Harrington. The boys did their part to clean the kitchen and before she knew it, they were heading onto base and she was getting ready for a day of school. She was already late, so it didn't really matter if she went in or not, but she was determined to keep some sort of normalcy. No matter how hard she tried, Emma kept looking over her shoulder in class, peeking towards the windows as if she would see someone wielding a camera.

No one was ever there.

The day passed without any excitement, and soon enough Emma was driving Mikey back from hockey practice and intent on ordering a pizza for dinner. With the upcoming deployment, it would be unusual for her dad to spun up and it was far past the time he would normally be home, all good signs to a night spent with Clay at his apartment, rather than a night spent watching Mikey. Unlocking the front door, Emma felt the hair on the back of her neck stand on end. Closing the door firmly behind her, Emma locked the deadbolt and drew the shades on the windows.

"Emma? Is that you?" Jason called from the kitchen. He was dreading having this conversation with her, but there was no choice. The orders came and he was powerless, he had to obey.

"Yeah, it's me. I was going to order pizza for dinner, if that's ok?" Emma said, scrolling distractedly through her phone. She hadn't heard from Clay in a while, but that wasn't unusual. He was probably out with Sonny for the evening, she would call him later.

"That's fine Em, but uh, I need to talk to you."

Looking up from her phone, Emma's heart sank in her stomach. She knew that look; it was the look he always gave her before he delivered the bad news. "You're deploying early, aren't you?"

"Tomorrow morning," Jason said, cringing at the way her eyebrows flew up on her forehead.

Emma opened her mouth and closed it again. Nothing in the Navy was every guaranteed and orders could come at any moment, but it didn't make it suck any less. "Is Clay at home?"

"Yeah, he was waiting for me to tell you first, he wanted to give us the night together if we wanted it, but Em, go to him. Mikey and I will spend the night eating pizza and watching hockey."

"Are you sure?" Emma questioned. It was sweet of Clay to give her and her dad some time together, but if he was deploying until they finished the OP, she wanted to spend time with him.

"Go," Jason said with a half-smile, laughing when Emma turned on her heel and hurried out the front door. He remembered what it was like when he was deploying when him and Alana were dating, every moment not spent with her felt like a moment wasted.

Emma sped the short distance to Clay's apartment and knocked gently. When the door opened, she threw herself at Clay and held on for dear life, inhaling the spicy scent of his cologne. "Clay."

"I'm so sorry, Emmie K, I know we were supposed to spend the next few days, and I wanted to take you out to the wharf and watch the sunset, and go to the carnival, and-"

"Clay, Clay it's ok. We're together for the night, let's make the most of it." Emma kissed him softly and stepped further inside. It wasn't late at all, but Clay and Emma made their way to his bedroom and curled in on one another, content to be in each other's arms. There was no talk of deployments or the Navy or what came next, sometimes there wasn't any talking at all. It was the two of them in their own little bubble.

A bubble that shattered at exactly 5:04:37 AM the next morning.

Standing on the airstrip, Emma heard the voices of her father and uncles around her, but she couldn't let go, didn't want to face the reality that Clay was leaving for some godforsaken country and she would be home.

"Emmie K, I gotta go," Clay murmured in her ear.

"I know," Emma agreed, but made no move to let go, she only held on tighter.

They stood together for a few more moments until Emma heard footsteps behind her and then Uncle Sonny's distinct twang. "Listen here lovebirds, I was elected to drag Wonderboy away from you Sunshine, and I'm doing this at the threat of needing some industrial strength brain bleach. Now if y'all will separate, I'll turn around and we'll head out," Sonny said firmly.

"You don't need the brain bleach, Uncle Sonny," Emma chuckled wetly.

"I ain't taking any chances, you hear that little lady? Not a chance."

Emma looked up at Clay and gave him one last kiss. "Take care of yourself, I'll be here when you get back, safe and sound. I promise."

Clay dropped a kiss on her forehead and squeezed her hands, "I'll call when I can, we don't have Davis, but the Sat phone is still set up, call if something's not right, ok?"

"I will"

Reluctantly, Emma let him out of her grasp and watched with a heavy heart as he made his way down the airstrip. Sonny stood beside her and pulled her into his arms. "I'll take care of him Sunshine, ok? You just worry about staying safe, that's what's most important."

"Look out for each other, not just Clay. Let him take care of you too"

"You're too much like your mama."

"Good, now get going. The plane is going to leave without you."

When the last man was loaded into the C17, the familiar sound of rotors filled the air and Emma got back into the car. School started in an hour and she still needed to get Mikey ready, real life didn't care that her family deployed. It kept going and so would she..

Wiping her eyes, she didn't see the flash that clicked in her rearview mirror, nor did she notice the SUV that followed her into town. But that was ok, they saw her.


	4. Chapter 4

"Kid, come on now, you gotta walk for me," Sonny grunted, dragging Clay through the door to the bunker that they were staying in during the OP. The Kid might look light and springy, but he sure weighed a ton when he was drunk.

"I am moving Son, you're the one who isn't moving," he slurred back. His feet felt heavy and his head was spinning. But the problems that he was trying to run from were still rolling through his head, combined with copious amounts of beer, tequila, and whatever that strange liquor Sonny had force fed him, was not a great mix.

Finally, when he was settled on his side on the ancient couch with a garbage next to his head, Sonny took a seat across from him. Normally that much alcohol would be enough to put Clay out for the count, but he still looked just as miserable as he did before they went out beyond the wire. "Clay, are you ever gonna tell me what's got you so bothered?"

"It's nothing Son," Clay muttered, closing his eyes. Maybe if he pretended that he was asleep, Sonny would leave him alone.

"I may have a youthful glow, but I wasn't born yesterday. Spill. Or I'm gonna sic Emma on you." When Clay winced, a lightbulb lit up in his mind. Emma was the problem. This could be interesting.

"It's nothing you want to hear about Sonny, just leave it alone. I'll be good to go in the morning, promise."

Silence reigned for a few moments, and when Clay opened his eyes again Sonny was still sitting there, waiting for him to say something. Patience and Sonny Quinn weren't exactly synonymous, but he was still there, waiting for Clay to say something or cry or break his hand against a wall. Whatever Clay decided he needed in that moment, Sonny would join him and hope that this would be the last thing to break him out of the funk he was in since their deployment began. "I don't even know where to start Son,"

"The beginning's always a good one, but if I get a choice, can we skip to the action portion of the story," he said, kicking his feet up on the table. This was sure to be a long story if Clay couldn't even figure out how to begin, might as well get comfortable.

"It's a lot of things. I'm angry, I'm scared. I can't get ahold of Emma for longer than five seconds. And every time I do talk to her, I can tell that she's not telling me… we never talk about the thing we fucking need to talk about because, a'cause we never really get a chance. I don't like that I had to leave her with everything that's going on and every time we seem to get things good again, some shit goes down and we're back where we started."

"Well," Sonny didn't know what to say to that. He had figured it was something to do with his Sunshine, but he didn't realize just how deeply the anger and hurt that Clay was feeling went. Apparently, there were a lot of things that had gone unsaid.

"I haven't seen Emma in weeks, and before that we didn't ever get a lot of time alone because of one thing or another. I know you don't want to hear about me and her, like this, but man, I miss just being with her. She's not the same girl that you know when everyone is together and I want that, I miss that side of herself. You know the side that she only shows to me? That's my favorite Emma, and I fucking miss her Son."

"Clay," Sonny tried to interject, but Clay wasn't stopping anytime soon. He pulled the cork out of the bottle and now it all had to come out one way or the other.

"I swear, Son. I just miss having her close to me, I miss being with her and dancing in the kitchen, I miss being able to kiss her good morning and goodnight. We got too comfortable being together in the same bed, the same space, and now I don't want to think about a time when I don't have that. I need her, Sonny. I love her."

Clay stopped speaking only when he felt the lump grow in his throat. He didn't really want to cry over Emma in front of what was arguably her favorite uncle, but damn. He really missed his girl. And he was scared. What if something happened when he wasn't there? What if this piece of shit escalated from sending pictures to going after her? After everything that they had been through in the past year, funerals and injuries and miscommunications, he wished that for once they could have one month without something going on. Just one.

"You're right, I don't really want to hear about you and Emma. I never want to know about the two of you swapping spit or how much you want some alone time with her, but Clay… You're my brother, and that means that whatever you're going through, I want to help. Even if it has to do with Emma. Hell, especially if it's something to do with Emma. When's the last time that you talked to her?"

Sonny never got an answer. A low snore came from Clay's throat and when Sonny turned to look at him, his hands were curled under his chin and his face finally relaxed. This could get messy if it went on for any longer. The Kid was already losing his edge in the field and Jason wasn't going to be any help. The whole team was more spooked than a cat after a bath and Sonny just hoped that the deployment would end sooner rather than later. Sitting in the dim room, Sonny heard the door slam behind him, but didn't turn to look.

"Brother, what were you thinking," Ray's soft voice floated over his shoulder.

"I was thinking that someone needed to get to the bottom of the barrel and whatever psycho mumbo-jumbo you were using wasn't exactly working. Good ol' fashioned beer did the trick."

"It was risky, there was no guarantee that it would work, if Jason found out he'd fry both of you alive. Not to mention that I don't exactly want to explain to Emma why her boyfriend isn't coming back to her."

"Well it worked." Sonny said shortly, fighting to keep his voice calm. This entire team needed to sit down and hash out whatever the fuck was bothering them and stop going around in circles within the team. God this deployment couldn't end soon enough. He didn't even have fucking Davis with him to keep him calm. Clay wasn't the only one missing his girl.

"He talked to you?" Ray raised his eyebrows, scoffing. "What's stuck up his ass then."

"What we figured, first deployment with a girlfriend at home, things aren't solid, and he wants to be home more than he wants to be deployed."

The two of them sat in silence while they watched their brother sleep. Ray could empathize with him. There were moments when he was away from Naima where he missed her terribly, where all he wanted was to be in her embrace. Somehow, she made everything better and simultaneously gave him a kick in the ass and all the courage he needed. Emma was quickly becoming that person for Clay and he was honored to be able to watch their relationship blossom. He just wished that he could make their growing pains easier. Tonight, was one of the many times where he wanted Naima to be on Bravo with them, and to give Clay one of her pep talks. "We've all been there; he needs to get his head in the game."

"Not quite. Pretty sure you never had to deploy when Naima had a sicko on the loose with an affection for peeping into her window."

Ray winced; he deserved that one. This was just another example of how well Clay could compartmentalize. Sonny was right, if it was Naima, he wouldn't even have deployed. "How do we make this better?"

"Finish the OP and lock them in a closet together until they work it out," Sonny replied flippantly, not seeing the grin spread across Ray's face.

"Where on Earth did you get that from?"

"It works in the movies and I'm sure they would find something to do with themselves. I think it's our best bet." Sonny replied firmly.

Ray just shook his head and smiled. He would never understand where half of Sonny's harebrained schemes came from, but they sure were entertaining. Their silence was broken by the ringing of a cellphone in Clay's pocket, but the man was sound asleep. Prying the phone from his pants, Sonny sucked in a breath sharply at Emma's face flashing on the screen and quickly answered, hitting the button for the speaker phone. "Sunshine! How are we this fine evening?"

"Uncle Sonny? Where's Clay? Is everything ok?" Sonny scowled at the obvious tears in her voice. She was crying and here he got the only one who knew how to comfort her drunk enough to be down for the count on the one night that she needed Clay coherent enough to talk to her. Just great.

"Everyone's fine, Em. Clay's just knocked right now. Too much beer with the locals."

"Oh," Emma sniffed, trying to pull herself together.

"Do you want me to try and wrangle your dad? I'm sure he'd love to hear from ya kid," Sonny offered, sharing a long look with Ray.

"Oh no that's ok, I'm sure that he's busy with the OP. I brought Mikey to the hockey camp and Grandma got to her flight ok as well, so there's not really anything to report. I have a call scheduled with him tomorrow night."

"Hey Em, how are you honey?" Ray interrupted what was sure to be a sarcastic remark from Sonny. Maybe they needed a little bit of a gentler touch with Emma at the moment.

"Uncle Ray," Emma whispered. The tears that she had fought down were surging again with a vengeance.

"Little lady, why are we crying? And before you say that it's nothing, remember that I am the expert in little girl tears right now."

"Come on, Sunshine. We can't help if you don't tell us what's happening."

"You're all a world and a half away, there's nothing to do," Emma griped wetly, not bothering to hide her sniffles any longer.

"Maybe not, but you can share it with us and maybe it won't be so heavy anymore," Ray countered, happy that they were at least getting somewhere.

"I can't stand to hear you cry, Emma Kate. Let me help you," Sonny echoed.

"It's going to sound stupid."

"I sound stupid every single damn day, and everyone still loves me, ain't nothing you can say that is worse than some of the shit that comes out of my mouth."

"I miss Clay," Emma said lowly. "I wanted to talk to him tonight and it feels like we keep missing each other. I know you don't have an end date in sight for the deployment, but right now I really wish that you were all home and safe."

"How have things been at home?" Ray asked tactfully, hoping that he wasn't going to open another can of worms.

"Not great," Emma snarked. "I started staying at the apartment more because I didn't like being alone in the house. I feel like I can't go to Aunt Naima because I don't want the sick fucker to find me there or come after the kids. I can't even tell Clay anything that's happening because it's going to make him feel worse and I need him to have his head screwed on right so that he can even come back safely. Uncle Ray, it's a mess, I'm losing my head here."

"I'm sorry, what else has been happening?" Sonny said with a growl.

"No matter where I stay, if it's at dad's or the apartment or with Hannah, a new picture comes every Sunday. No one ever sees anything, and I can't ever tell if someone's watching me, and it's making me crazy. I feel like I'm always looking over my shoulder."

Both men were quiet. She was right, this would only serve to make Clay more anxious to get home and there was nothing that anyone else could do from Mexico. As far as any of them knew, Mandy and Harrington were working on it from home, that would have to be enough for now.

"Emma, honey. I don't want you to think that you can't go to Naima because of everything that's happening. I want you to be with her because I know that she'll keep an eye on you and Hannah."

"But the kids-"

"The kids are safe; Naima hasn't let them out of her sight. Another pair of eyes would help too, RJ is getting into everything that isn't bolted to the floor right now," Ray cajoled, heart lightening when he heard a small chuckle come from his niece.

Emma sucked in a deep breath and sniffled loudly. While it wasn't as good as talking to Clay, she had at least gotten some of what was bothering her off her chest. "Alright boys, can you ask Clay to call me tomorrow? Hopefully I'll get to talk to dad and then we can just play a little phone tag for a bit."

"I can do that Sunshine but remember to try and keep those rain clouds away. I don't like you crying, you hear?"

"I will, Uncle Sonny. And do me a favor, don't tell Clay this until I figure out how to break it to him."

Sonny opened his mouth, but Ray beat him to the punch. "Sure honey but get some sleep tonight. I'll tell Naima to expect you tomorrow."

"Good night," Emma said softly, hanging up the phone and curling into Clay's pillow. She wished that she could find more than an hour or two of sleep a night, but it was impossible. She would fall asleep for an hour, maybe two and wake up with a feeling that someone was watching her.

But no one was ever there.

It was always just her in the apartment, wishing that Clay's arms were around her.

The next morning dawned and Emma felt like she hadn't slept. Her eyes were heavy and try as she might, she couldn't find it in herself to settle down and sleep the way she knew that she needed. Stretching in their bed, Emma inhaled the spicy scent of Clay's cologne that lingered on the pillows. Maybe if she closed her eyes, she could pretend that he was still with her and find some peaceful dreams.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

Emma sprung out of the bed, breath stuttering in her chest. If she stood still, they would go away. She didn't have to answer the door, no one could force their way in without alerting Clay's next-door neighbor. Apparently, he had been on the teams before he retired and was keeping an eye on the place while Clay was on deployment. He would be over in a second if he thought someone was jimmying the door. Or if she screamed it would get his attention even faster...

Another knock sounded and Emma inched her way towards the door, grabbing the bat that she stored in their coat closet. Steadying herself, Emma swung open the door and raised the bat over her shoulder, ready to strike.

"Emma it's me! Uncle Charlie!"

Emma felt herself deflate and tears sprung to her eyes. Of course, it was just Uncle Charlie, not some mass murderer ready to do her in. "I'm so sorry Uncle Charlie," she mumbled, head hanging low in shame. She nearly just beaned her uncle with a baseball bat in broad daylight.

"It's ok, it's ok, come here," wrapping his arms around Emma's shoulders he was surprised to feel her trembling. Her thin shoulders shook in his arms and her pulse beat out a staccato rhythm against his chest. When her breath returned, she pulled away and Charlie Harrington felt like he was back seven months ago, looking into the face of his niece after she lost her mother. Her hair was dull, eyes lost the fire that was slowly returning, and the circles that rimmed her bright blue eyes were reaching racoon status. This was not the girl that he remembered.

"Can I come in?" They had been standing in the doorway and even Charlie felt uncomfortable with so many eyes on them.

"Of course, I'm sorry," Emma said closing the door and locking the deadbolt behind them. Charlie stepped into the apartment and took a long look, not liking what he saw. The curtains were drawn tightly, pictures were spread across the table, and Emma's face stared back through all of them. This was bad. "Is there any update?"

Startled, Charlie looked up from the picture he was examining. How this fucker had gotten into the apartment to take a picture of her cooking dinner was … unfathomable. "No honey, there isn't. We're still looking, I promise you that."

"And you've looked into Richie, he's still where he's supposed to be?"

"He's clean, he was dishonorably discharged, but all of the banking records show him on the west coast. He's got alibis and we can't connect him, he's clean."

Emma stood silently in the kitchen, waiting for whatever bad news that Uncle Charlie was sure to be bringing her, he wouldn't just show up unannounced without a reason. "Is everyone ok? Nothing happened last night, right?"

"Everyone is safe and sound, I called in this morning and spoke with your daddy and Blackburn. They're waiting on some intel, which is actually why I'm here, I have a favor to ask you," at her nod, he continued, "We were able to get a live feed, and wanted to know if you were willing to help us translate. I know we said that it wouldn't, couldn't, happen again, but if you're willing, I would be very appreciative"

"I have to go down to the base?"

"Yes, but I'll be with you every single step of the way, and then no one can get into the briefing room that hasn't been authorized."

"Ok, give me a bit to shower, make yourself at home Uncle Charlie. There's not much food, but I'm sure we still have coffee somewhere."

And that was that. He was so sure that Emma was going to fight him, that there was going to be some cajoling or promises made, but there was nothing. No fight, no fire, just acceptance. He didn't like this one bit, and he sure as shit was going to make whoever this bastard was pay. He didn't give a damn what Bravo said, he got the first crack at him, and then he would let them have the rest, if there was anything left. Pulling out his phone, he started to type a quick response out to Blackburn, hoping that he could pull some strings and get Emma some facetime with her boys. Or at the very least have them see her so they knew just how bad this had gotten while they were away.

The ride down to the Naval base was quiet, neither Charlie nor Emma had much to say, even when Emma insisted that they get there as quickly as they could. He didn't see the frown on her face lift until they were well into the briefing room and the door locked behind them. Safe at last.

"Ok, so we're going to give you a set of comms, even if she doesn't speak. Feel free to sign back and forth, we can have the translation at the end. You might hear other people in the background but try and focus as best you can." Charlie had gotten the confirmation that Bravo was watching the feed, but they were under orders not to make a peep. Charlie didn't believe that for a second, his money was on Quinn not being able to keep his mouth shut.

Emma nodded and slipped the headset on, facing the large screen projected on the wall. When the little girl waved again, she felt a shred of a smile cross her face at the nervous giggle from the little girl. With hands flying, Emma dragged the full story out of her. "She misses her mother, wants her to come, but she's not really clear on what happened. She's saying something about a woman that kept coming by her house, someone who said that they were a police officer? Uncle Charlie, she's little. I don't know how much of this is true and what's make believe."

"Ask her more questions about this woman? What does she look like? Does she know her name? Anything that might help us identify her."

"Her name is Rita, she has brown hair, she works with her father. She doesn't know much more than that, oh."

"What?" Charlie looked up from his notes to see tears welling up in Emma's eyes. She surreptitiously wiped her eyes and signed very slowly before turning back to him.

"She wants to know if I can bring her mother back to her, because she wants to sing and play again, but her dad is too scared." Emma blew out a breath and smiled at the little one. "I had to tell her that I couldn't bring her back, but that one day she would play again. I don't think I'm going to get much more out of her, is that enough?"

"Yeah Em, it's enough. Why don't you find your way to the cages and try and get some shut eye and I'll bring you back in a few once I finish the report. I'll even have someone stationed outside the door."

Emma nodded and slipped the headset off, if Uncle Charlie said that she was safe in the cage, she would be. And a nap sure did sound good right about now. When Charlie was sure that Emma was far enough away, he put the headset on himself and stood in front of the camera. "Believe me now, boys."

"With all due respect sir, this OP needs to be done." Clay growled, sitting down in a chair where both Sonny and Brock were holding onto one of his shoulders. It had taken everything in him not to call out to his girlfriend, and all he wanted was to be able to comfort her.

"I agree, which is why I'm greenlighting whatever operation you need to finish this damn thing. I don't care what it takes, just don't start a war. I'm taking her to Naima's after this and hopefully she'll stay there until you finish this thing."

"Oh, we're finishing it tonight, that's for damn sure." Jason stated darkly from the corner. They had just gotten Emma to a good place and now… he wasn't sure if she was compartmentalizing or if she was in a darker place than she started. His kid needed him, needed Clay. Nothing was going to keep him from getting to his child.

"Glad to hear it, call when you're moving out."

The screen went black and Charlie sighed heavily. They were making moves but were they fast enough? Typing the last sentence of the report, the door banged open and a tear-stricken Emma held out her hands shakingly. "Emma?"

"You said, it was, how did it even?"

The officer that he had assigned to stand outside the cage door ran in after her, panting. "Murphy! What the hell happened?"

"She came out like this, ran for the briefing room. No one was in or out aside from her, I don't get it."

Emma held out her hand and dropped the USB onto the table. There was no note, nothing to suggest anything suspicious took place. But she sure as hell didn't go to bed with a USB in her hand, which meant someone had to be able to stand over her and place it on her. She wasn't even safe on the base.

"Lock the base down, no one in or out, you hear me?"

Murphy nodded and Charlie took the USB gingerly in his hand, wishing that he had a glove, not that they would find any forensic evidence. The bastard knew what he was doing. Plugging it into the computer, a grainy image of Emma and Clay played across the laptop. They were dancing in the kitchen, making dinner. It looked like Clay was instigating the dancing, and when the pot bubbled over, they shrieked and laughed together. Anyone with eyes knew that they were romantically involved, but the adoration that was plain as day was reflected in Clay's eyes and the way he held Emma in his arms. The image cut off as Clay leaned down to kiss Emma, pulling her tight to his body. While Charlie was grateful the video cut off, he wished that there wasn't even a video to begin with. The son of a bitch was escalating.

"It's going to be ok Emma, I promise. It'll be ok." Charlie muttered into her hair. He would make it ok if it was the last thing he did. He had already had to deliver one notification to his men, he wasn't going to make another. He didn't think that they would survive another death.

Hell, Charlie wasn't sure that he would survive losing his niece.


	5. Chapter 5

Strapped into the jump seat on the C17, Clay let all of the nerves and fears of the last six weeks bubble up to the surface. The OP was finished and after all was said and done, Clay couldn't believe that they were finally going home. He would see Emma in a few hours but he didn't know if that was making him happy, or more anxious. Of course, he was happy that he would get to be with the woman he loved, that wasn't a question.

But they hadn't had a conversation longer than five minutes in three weeks. And that was pissing him off. Between shitty service, time differences, and whatever was causing Emma's reluctance, Clay had never been so angry about being an operator, had never felt so much disdain for orders. Jiggling his knee up and down, Clay stared at Jason holding the Sat phone in his hand. Ray was praying down at the complete opposite end of the plane and he really didn't want to get in the middle of that one. Tilting his head against the wall, Clay let his eyes droop shut and thought about what he wanted to say to Emma. What _could _he say?

He loved her, that was probably a good start.

He wanted to marry her one day, also probably something important to mention.

He was angry that she was keeping things from him. Angry at himself for not being able to protect her, even after he promised Jason. Frustrated that she deliberately didn't go to Naima or hell even Davis at OCS. Terrified that something would happen to her. Disgusted that the moments they shared, the moments that were supposed to be private, were captured for anyone to see.

He was worried. Seeing Emma look that way made his heart shatter in a way that he didn't know was possible. His breath stuttered in his chest and every ounce of self control that he possessed went into keeping himself calm and in control. Her beautiful blonde hair was dull, eyes lifeless. That version of Emma was far from the vivacious and vibrant woman he left standing on the tarmac.

Whoever was behind this was going to _pay_.

"Hey Kid."

Clay's eyes popped open and stared at Brock squatting in front of him. "Brock," she said tiredly. Yes the OP had gotten a little hairy at the end, but he was fine and drank all the damn gatorade that he had been given and let Trent poke and prod at him all he wanted. There was no reason to think that he was anything less than fine. And he was fine. He had to be fine.

"How are you holding up?" Brock said simply, sitting next to him. People had been hovering over him the entire week since they had seen Emma last, asking him questions and poking into his relationship, but no one had thought to ask how he was doing. Of course, they all assumed that it was bad, but in Brock's opinion, they had forgotten a key piece of information. Clay and Emma were a package, when one suffered, the other felt the same pain. The thought came to Brock when he was observing one of the few phone calls that he made to Emma and the more he thought about it, the more sickening the prospect became.

No one had considered that maybe the target wasn't Emma.

"I can't wait to be home, other than that, I'm fine."

"You can stop with the tough guy routine. I've been there, panicking because something is happening at home that you can't control and knowing that there is nothing you can do about it."

"What happened?" Clay was genuinely curious. Of all of his brother's, Brock shared the least about his life away from the teams. They knew he was married, he liked barbecuing, his best friend, aside from Trent, was Cerb, and was raised in a foster home. Aside from that, nothing.

"It was right after I met Amelia, my first deployment with Bravo. Someone came looking for me. He, uh, was one of the worst families that I stayed with and he came to the house looking for compensation for 'keeping me in line' as a kid. Never mind the fact that he was paid by the state and he didn't give two flying fucks about me. Beat the shit out of Mia when she wouldn't pay. I got the call three days later when we had service, but they didn't grant me leave because we weren't married yet and I wasn't listed as her next of kin. I didn't go home for four more weeks and the entire time I was petrified. Trent thought he was going to have to tranquilize my ass at one point because I wouldn't sleep more than three hours every night."

Clay was silent. He didn't know if he would have followed orders and stayed with his men if he knew that Emma had been beaten. It was hard enough to know that she was fine, but not really fine.

"I get it, Clay. I know what's going through your head right now. But you have to keep your head in the game."

"Brock, man, how do I even make this right? I don't know who we're fighting, Mandy hasn't been able to turn up anything. If the _CIA_ can't find anything, how the hell do I keep her safe?"

"You ask for help, you love her. She doesn't need armored cars and planned out missions, just you. So be you."

"Brock, I'm so… angry."

"Angry at what?" Of all the things that he was expecting him to say, he wasn't expecting Clay to be so forthright with his emotions. He was better than Sonny at expressing himself, but not by much. But maybe the boys had given him too much time alone.

"Myself, Emma, the situation, the fucking OP, I don't know, all of it."

"You can be angry, I sure as fuck was pissed when I got home. But don't let that anger drive a wedge between you and Emma. Both of you need to look at this as you and her versus the problem, not a problem that you both fight individually. You're stronger together than you are apart."

"You're turning into one of Ray's self-help magazines, brother," Clay scoffed, rubbing his hand down his beard.

"Maybe, but if it helps… Just think about it, we've got a long flight back."

Clay nodded and Brock made his way back to where Trent was pretending to read his novel. "He's going to be fine, all he needed was some perspective."

"I don't know who to be more worried about, Emma or Clay," Trent said closing the book with a thunk. "He looks like he's two seconds away from losing his shit."

"Because he is, he's gonna explode and I sure as hell don't want to be in his way or be anywhere near Sonny when they do. I'm honestly surprised we didn't hear more of a fuss from either of them the last time that Emma called in."

"Son's plotting his revenge, we're not gonna hear anything about it until we have a target package in hand and he knows who to schwack." They sat in silence for a moment before Trent turned to Brock with a smirk on his face. "I'll take the Kid if you handle Sonny when he explodes."

"Not a shot in hell, I'm kicking him to Davis if he starts to go off his rocker."

They laughed for a moment and sobered when they realized that it wouldn't just be Clay and Sonny going insane if Emma was to be harmed, but Jason would leave no stone left unturned and Mandy would help. Whoever this motherfucker is, he doesn't know who he's messing with, not to mention what Harrington would do.

This could get messy.

When the chopper finally touched down on the tarmac, Brock thought that there was going to be a mutiny for whoever got to deplane first between Sonny, Clay, and Jason. Jason ultimately called rank and relationship, and took the first step off the plane only to be met by Harrington. No one moved, and for a moment, Brock's heart stuttered in his chest. This did not look good.

"There's been an update, or rather an escalation. I don't know how it happened, I don't why it happened, and I don't know who this fucker is or what he wants." Charlie Harrington didn't like being the bearer of bad news and he didn't like not knowing the answer, but his men needed to have all of the information before they walked into a shit show. "Last Sunday at approximately 1600 hours, I had Emma on base, which you all saw. Once she was finished, I sent her to your cages to try and nap on the hammock."

"All of that there sounds like a good idea, what's the problem?" Sonny called out from the back of the chopper.

"Someone got into the cages, and deposited a USB on her person."

"What. Do. You. Mean. On her _person?_" Clay said tightly, hoping that Harrington wasn't implying that they were actually close enough to Emma to touch her.

"It was placed in her hand as she slept."

"Was she harmed?'"

"Did she see anything? Hear anyone come in?"

"Who was guarding the door? Were there any security measures in place?"

"How in the holy hell did that happen?"

"Stop!" Clay called out, visibly shaking. He could feel his heart racing and his ears were burning. He didn't care how it happened or why it happened. He only cared about Emma. "Where is she now? And can I go see her?"

Harrington was unsurprised that Clay didn't really care for the particulars. He would eventually, of course. But right now his only thought was Emma. "She's been staying with Naima, there's an escort stationed outside."

Clay didn't wait for any more instructions, he took off at jog towards the base. Throwing the door to his cage open, Clay found his footlocker cracked open and his blanket folded neatly over the edge. Smiling to himself, Clay fingered the hem of the blanket and closed the sticky lock.

Emma.

She never could sleep without a blanket over her, she must have chosen his cage to try and nap that afternoon. Grabbing his keys and his jacket, he made his way past his brothers without a word. They would catch up to him eventually.

The entire drive to the Perry household from base took approximately twenty minutes and the entire time he couldn't think. He couldn't take a deep breath and the panic that was simmering right below the surface threatened to erupt when he stood on the stoop, wondering what he would find beyond the door. The door swung open before he could knock and there she was, standing in front of him. Safe.

Emma took one look at his face and burst into tears before he could say a word. Not the small tears that sometimes appeared when she was angry or the silent ones that he had seen at the funerals. These were deep, angry, heaving sobs that tore at his heart. The next thing he knew his arms were full and Emma was kissing every space that she could reach, tears mixing in with their smiles.

Pulling away when he needed to breathe, Clay kept his arms wrapped around her waist and pressed her close. She was definitely thinner than she was before he had deployed, but there was still the sweet scent of her shampoo and the subtle perfume she wore. Clay could feel the glare that Naima was giving from across the room and when he looked over Emma's shoulder, he nodded. He understood loud and clear:

Don't fuck up. Get to the bottom of this. Make sure they're on the same page.

"You're really here?" Emma mumbled into his chest, face still pressed tightly into his neck.

"I'm here Emmie K, but why don't we get out of the doorway?" He didn't wait for a response, just started a sort of awkward shuffle towards the living room. Clay sat Emma down on the couch and knelt in front of her, and together they breathed in the comfort of each other. No words were spoken, they didn't have to say anything.

But they did need to talk, the famous phrase that everyone dreads.

The sobs turned into tears which turned into small sniffles before they stopped and Emma let him sit next to her on the couch. Tucking her knees under herself, she swiped at her eyes before facing Clay. "Uncle Charlie told you?"

Clay debated in his head how he was going to answer, because Harrington did tell him what happened but he didn't know any of the details. "He told me about the USB."

"He didn't tell you what was on it?"

"No. To be completely honest Em, I didn't stick around to find out. I was more worried about you."

"They recorded us, in the kitchen dancing and making dinner. It was another night at home for us and they took that away." Emma whispered, hands shaking in her lap.

"What else has been happening Em? And don't give me the crap of 'nothing'. I know something is going on."

"I didn't exactly know how to tell you, we didn't really have a ton of time to go into the full story."

"I'm sorry Em, but that's crap. If you had said something we would have made the time. Or Jason would have found a way to get a better connection. Harrington would have debriefed us."

"You're right, there would have been a way around that and Uncle Charlie would have been glad to debrief you on the last six weeks, not that there's much to even report. But Clay? If you knew the full story, all the details, there'd be no way around you being reckless and doing something stupid just so that you could come home sooner. I'd much rather have you _alive_ than worry you while you're on an OP like that. Dad was telling me how you were taking risks and I didn't want to add to anything that you were already doing."

"But you never talked to me about it, and the risks that I was taking were calculated. Yeah, your dad didn't like them, but I considered my actions before I made them. He shouldn't have even been telling you about them, Em."

"Clay, I wanted to keep you safe, or as safe as possible when you're in a warzone. You should only have to worry about coming home, not what I'm doing at home."

"And all I want is for you to be safe. We want the same things here, babe, just in different countries."

Emma shook her hand and swiped at the tears pooling under her eyes. The desire was the same, but it was still different. She was home, he was in a warzone. "I didn't want to look like the typical hysterical Navy girlfriend begging for her boyfriend to come home. I had to be stronger than that, you deserve better than me sobbing on the phone every night."

"This is more than you wanting me to come home. You've dealt with your dad being gone for your entire life, my leaving for a deployment isn't out of the norm. A stalker? That would push anyone over the edge and you're not hysterical for wanting me with you or crying because you're scared."

"If I had called you and told you that all of this was happening and that I wanted you to come home, what would you have done? And be honest with me, Clay."

Clay hesitated, and in that moment Emma knew that she was right. "I would have found a way to come home, probably ignoring orders and gone AWOL."

"Meaning that you would be kicked off the teams, stripped of your trident, for what! Me?"

"I would have done it in a heartbeat, Emma. I love my brothers and I love operating and I love the Navy, but make no mistake. I love you far more than I love any of those things. _You_ will always be more important because one day I'm going to stop operating and I want you in that life. I want to marry you one day and I want my children to have you as their mother. My future is with you, Emma Kate Hayes."

Emma surged forward, wrapping her arms around his neck. What she had done to deserve this wonderful man she didn't know, but he was hers and he loved her. She had never questioned that Clay loved her, it was present in every action and every word that he spoke, but to hear it come from his lips was indescribable.

"And I love you, which is why I hope you understand why I didn't tell you. I thought that this was the best decision to keep you safe."

"Honey, that's a decision that we need to make together. How do you think I would feel if I came back stateside and you were dead and there was something that I could have done to prevent it? This goes both ways babe, we can't be fighting if we want to take this bastard down. We have to be on the same page."

Emma nodded and looked down at their joined hands. He made a good point and she would be lying if the thought of sharing her burden with Clay didn't make her feel better already. "What do you want to know?"

"Has anything changed since I deployed? Have you noticed anyone hanging around or a car that drives past or seen the same person in multiple locations?" Clay was at a loss for what they could possibly be missing, but he wasn't home. Then again he didn't really notice much when he _was_ home, so there was that.

"I got a new envelope of pictures every Sunday. It didn't matter if I was sleeping at dad's or in the apartment, they were shoved underneath the door. Most of them were of the two of us, some of me and Hannah. I made the decision to let Mikey go to another hockey camp out of state and, so far, he hasn't seen anything unusual. No one ever sees someone coming or going and the security camera footage doesn't show anything."

"The pictures of the two of us, are they…?"

"No, no, just random moments. I don't even want to think about if there are pictures of that," Emma said, putting her head in her hands. It was bad enough that she felt that she had been violated in her own home, those moments with Clay were special between the two of them. They didn't deserve to be shared with anyone else.

"And you haven't noticed anyone following you? Or paying special attention, maybe at school?" Clay pressed, hoping that there would be some sort of clue as to the identity of this bastard.

"I keep thinking that someone is following me or watching, but no one is ever there. I'm waking up in the middle of the night because I think that someone is watching me, trying to take different routes to school, closing the blinds. Nothing ever works, and I'm scared. Clay, he was inches away from me," she said, her voice cracking as new tears sprang to surface, "on base, of all places. If I'm not safe on a Naval Base, where am I safe?"

"I don't know Emmie K, I don't know. I'm just as scared as you are, but we're going to do this together. Jason and Mandy and Harrington are all over it, it's going to be ok."

"Clay, I'm so tired of all of this." Emma said with a sigh, scooting closer to Clay on the couch. It was exhausting to look over your shoulder every five minutes and hope that you didn't see anyone following you.

"Rest then, I'm here with you. Naima's in the kitchen and the officer is still out front. No one can get to you here, not without one of us hearing them. My money is on Naima taking the bastard down before he even gets to the stoop. I got you." Clay was glad when she smiled and the corners of her eyes crinkled with mirth. Feeling the comforting weight of her body relax onto his, Clay rubbed his thumb back and forth over her hand and waited for her to fall asleep. Judging by the darkness of the circles under her eyes, he didn't think it would be long, but he hoped that she would stay asleep.

Finally when her breathing evened out and a soft snore came from her lips, he eased himself from her embrace and made his way into the kitchen. Time to face the other conversation that he had been avoiding. And oh, did Naima have a bone to pick with him.

"Is she asleep?" Naima asked cooly, still washing the dishes that were in the sink.

"Yeah, she's exhausted."They stood in silence. Clay didn't have much experience in life, but according to Sonny when a woman washed a dish that forcefully, it wasn't because she was trying to get it clean.

"And have you heard when my husband is going to be home?"

"No, I haven't. The last time that I saw him was on the plane." More silence. She still hadn't turned around to look at him even once the water had shut off and the last dish was dried. "Naima, is something wrong?"

"Is something wrong? You really just asked me that question."

"... Yes"

"Clay Spenser, nothing about this situation is 'fine'. I have watched that child cry and wither away for the last six weeks and we are no closer to figuring this shit out than we were before you all deployed. I haven't seen my husband in six weeks and know that he's hiding something from me, Lord knows whatever that could be because I don't have a clue."

"Naima, I don't really know what else we could be doing that we aren't already. As for Ray, I don't have a clue either, and to be completely honest, my mind hasn't exactly been on my brothers."

"It hasn't been on your girl either," Naima grumbled, turning around to face Clay.

"That's not fair and you know it. Every spare moment I have had in the last month and a half has been focused on her and trying to get home. I'm sorry, that things have been rough and that I haven't been home, but don't ever imply that I don't love her."

"You're right. I'm sorry. It's just been, one day when you're a parent, you'll understand how hard it is to watch your child go through something and know, _know _in your heart that there is nothing that you can do to make it better. That's what these last six weeks has been like and when I find out who this motherfucker is, they're going to burn and all of you boys better get in line."

"We're going to figure this out Naima, I made the same promise to Emma that I'm making to you. The boys are on it right now and as soon as I can, I'm sending Ray home if he's not already on his way. We're working the problem."

"Well then in the meantime, you better sit your behind back on that couch and stay with Emma. The last thing she needs is to wake up and find you gone." When Clay didn't immediately move from the bar stool he was sat upon, Naima arched one perfectly sculpted eyebrow until her command was obeyed. Sometimes these tough frogmen needed someone to put the fear of God in them and she was more than happy to oblige when they weren't pulling their weight. Clay was good for her goddaughter, but if Alana wasn't here to make sure she was treated right, Naima would graciously step up to the plate. Besides, it was always fun to try and make them squirm.

The phone rang and brought Naima out of her thoughts as she scrambled to answer before it could wake Emma. "Hey baby." With two words from her husband, Naima could feel herself relax and settle.

"It is so good to hear your voice right now, are you on your way home?"

"No, I'm, uh, not. I actually need you to come to Clay's apartment. Are they still at the house?"

Something was wrong. "They haven't gone anywhere, do you want me to bring them?"

"Where are the kids?"

"Ray, you're scaring me. The kids are still at my mothers, I called this morning and she said that they were fine."

"Baby, I need you to do what I ask, I promise that I'll explain when you get here. Have Clay drive you and Emma to his apartment, don't stop anywhere. I'll be waiting outside. Be careful, ok?"

"Ok, ok, I'll have Clay wake Emma and we'll be right there. I love you, Ray."

"I love you too, baby. Be safe."

The phone clicked and Naima met Clay's eyes across the living room.

It was go time.


	6. Chapter 6

Stella sat in the darkened apartment and scowled. Nothing was going the way it was supposed to and the vision she had in her mind was crumbling with every camera and microphone that they found in Clay's apartment.

Clay.

The man she knew that she was supposed to be with, the man she loved.

She loved him so desperately and all the hard work that she had put in while he was deployed, _serving_ their country, was going to be ruined by a girl that had no business coming between true love. Stella remembered the first night that she had fallen for Clay. Their eyes met across the crowded bar and the half grin he sent her way made her stomach flutter. He _wanted _her.

Once she gathered her courage, she walked across that bar giving as good as she got, and he didn't even see her. Turned right around and kept talking to the hick who pretended he had brain cells. She didn't even get a word out before she saw him take out his cellphone and the guys around him cackle and laugh. The crooked smile that she loved so much came out and she was left to the background, just like always. As she slunk back to the bar, she felt someone tap her on her shoulder and that was the beginning of a beautiful partnership.

There were times where she didn't even know why she continued to follow this guy's orders. It obviously wasn't working, and Clay was slipping further and further from her grasp. But he promised that Clay would belong to her one day if she followed all the instructions and did what he asked, so she did. He _promised _her that all she had to do was get the blonde out of the picture and then they would live happily ever after.

And she felt bad about it, seeing the poor thing whimper and cry into her pillow. But she had to learn not to play with the big girls if she couldn't handle a little competition. Every time she started to feel guilty, she remembered why she was acting this way.

It was supposed to be _her_ that Clay wrapped his big, strong arms around.

It was supposed to be _her_ that Clay danced with in the middle of the kitchen.

It was supposed to be _her _that Clay loved.

Damn it, it was supposed to be _her._

That bitch had taken everything from her; her job, her friends, and the man that she was supposed to marry one day. She deserved everything that was coming to her. Taking a deep breath to settle the rage that swirled in her gut, she put her headphones back on and listened to each of her precious cameras and microphones get destroyed. Distantly she heard the rumbling of Clay's truck down the street and she peeked through the blinds to try and catch a glimpse of his face. There was a beautiful moment where he was standing in the street, tall and strong and confident.

Then she ruined it.

Clay wrapped his arm around the blonde bitch's shoulders and guided her across the street, glancing every which way. Too bad he'd never see her, not with Emma in the picture. Guess she'd just have to try a little harder to make sure that she never came within two feet of her man ever again.

What a shame.

Grabbing her keys, Stella made a quick exit down the fire escape and climbed into her tiny sedan. With one last longing look in the rearview mirror, she sped off through the tiny town to the Hayes' household racking her brain for anything that would scare this girl once and for all. Pulling into the cul-de-sac, she spotted Emma's car parked in the driveway and a grin crossed her face. She knew just what to do.

After she finished her handiwork for the evening, the thought crosses her mind that maybe she hasn't quite gotten her message across. Whipping out the burner phone that he had gotten her, she snapped a few pics and sent it to Emma's cellphone. The little girl needed to know that no matter where she was, she would find her, and she would make her pay.

After all, there needed to be consequences for actions. And poor Emma Hayes' actions were unforgivable.

Clay Spenser belonged to her, she just needed to make him see that.

When Ray came up to the door on Clay's apartment door. He knew that Emma had been staying at the apartment for the last few weeks and that the big house was empty for a lot of the time. He had been over Clay's apartment many times for game nights and even brought his drunk ass home a time or two only to be met at the door by his goddaughter's smiling face.

But opening the door tonight was like stepping back into the deployment from hell.

"Holy Mother of God," Ray swore quietly, walking into the living room and staring in disgust. Every single surface was covered with pictures of Emma's face. Some were close shots of her face that Ray could practically count the rings that lined her eyes and others were so far away that he only knew it was her by the shine of her blonde hair.

Then there were the pictures of her and Clay together. On the beach, in the car, at the grocery store, in the apartment. Those were the most disturbing. As Ray leafed through the images spread out on the table, he noted that every single picture of Emma and Clay together had Emma's face scratched out with a black pen. Ray felt someone step into his space and he glanced over his shoulder at Trent. "Have you seen these?" he asked quietly, not wanting to draw Sonny and Jason away from their conversation in the kitchen.

Trent nodded, "This is worse than I thought; hell I don't even know what I thought was happening. I couldn't have, I didn't-"

"I know brother," Ray cut him off. It wasn't often that Trent was speechless but the wide-eyed look in his brother's told him that he was more than just speechless. He was afraid.

"It looks like Emma's been staying in the bedroom for the most part, the rest of the apartment looks like it hasn't been touched in a while," Brock murmured, coming up behind the two of them. All the charm that Emma had lovingly put into the apartment was gone, the curtains were shut tightly, and a fine layer of dust coated Emma's precious record player and Clay's bookshelves. Only the kitchen looked a little homier with a sad banana ripening in the fruit bowl and a pot of coffee still sitting in the carafe.

"How are they getting pictures of her in the apartment if the curtains are closed and she's staying in a room with two windows. None of the angles are good enough to get a shot from the street," Ray rubbed his jaw, picking out a photo of Emma drinking coffee and typing away on her laptop at the kitchen table.

Another photo caught his eye, and it would have made for a great shot if it wasn't taken by a psychopath with a fascination for his goddaughter. Emma was in sweats and a t-shirt and Clay was twirling her around the kitchen like she was a princess. The grins on their faces were wide and bright and Ray wished that he had been there in that moment to watch his brother fall deeper in love with his girl.

"Whatcha got there Ray?" Sonny said, deadly quiet. His hands were fisting at his sides and if Ray didn't know his brother so well, he'd almost think that he was going to come after him.

There were no words that Ray could use to describe what he held in his hands, nothing in his self-help books could have guided him to make a statement that would encompass all of the fucked up pieces of a very demented puzzle. Silently passing the photos to Sonny, he watched different emotions flit across his grizzled face. Joy. Sadness. Rage.

Then he reared up and put his fist through the drywall, photos fluttering to the floor, forgotten. "And we're no closer to finding this son of a bitch?" he said, spinning around to glare at Jason, as if he somehow had an answer that the rest of the men didn't know about yet.

"No Son, we're not any closer," Jason said, defeated.

Mission failure was looming closer and closer and Jason was stubbornly refusing to accept that it was even an option. But facts didn't lie and the only fact that they had right now was that they had nothing.

Sonny just blinked at him before pacing from one end of the apartment to the other. He just wanted to make sure that there was somewhere that Emma felt _safe_. It clearly wasn't her childhood home, the one where he had watched her take her first steps and sing her first song. The place where Alana raised her children and had so many precious memories was tainted with more than just her untimely death and Sonny didn't know if Emma would ever have the courage to stay there again.

On his second lap, he noticed something in the corner of the ceiling and dismissed it as a spider or some other creepy crawly that he would make Brock squish later. But as he passed it again, his head snapped to the corner.

_That there was no spider_, he thought to himself gleefully.

"Ray, come 'ere," he grunted, standing on the couch to try and reach the corner of the ceiling.

"Son, have you finally gone nuts?" Ray chortled, eyeing the way the couch cushions seemed to waver with the attempts that Sonny made to reach the ceiling.

"No, there's something- I just can't- finally. I got the little fucker," he said triumphantly, cupping the tiny little camera in his hands.

"Is that?" Brock questioned, sure that something that simple couldn't have been the answer that had been stumping them for weeks.

"Looks like Sonny's more than just a horse whisperer," Trent joked, eyeing the camera in his hands. "Got some eagle eyes to go along with it."

"Alright, well, if there's one there's bound to be more, I want the place swept. Don't leave anything unturned," Jason ordered, placing the camera in an empty folder on the table.

"Jay, if we're clearing the place, it's probably the safest spot for Emma and the Kid to be right now," Ray said quietly, reasoning with Jason. It also would give Jason the added benefit of being able to lay eyes on his kid for a bit and calm the fear that was battering around his chest.

Jason thought for a moment before nodding. "Call Naima, I'm going to work on the kitchen."

"Alright, give me a minute, I'll be right outside Jay." And with that, Ray went outside to call his wife. She would in his arms soon enough.

With Jason already sweeping the kitchen and Ray out in the hallway, it fell to Sonny to divvy out the rest of rooms to the team. "Alright, we got the living room, bathroom, and the bedroom. _I_ will be taking the living room, there ain't nothing in either of those two rooms that I want to see and y'all can figure out who's gonna need the brain bleach tonight."

"It's fine, I'll take the bedroom and Trent can do the bathroom. I'm sure there's nothing out of place, Son. Let's just finish the damn thing," Brock retorted, stalking away from them toward Clay and Emma's bedroom.

"You heard the man," Trent responded, not sparing a glance for Sonny. Sometimes his desire to not see his niece grow up blinded him to the love that Clay had for her and prevented him from seeing the situation clearly. He would get there eventually. Sonny usually needed to get used to something before he would jump on the bandwagon, case in point, Clay.

Trent just hoped it was sooner rather than later.

Brock stalked into the hallway and looked at the closed door in front of him. Sonny was being his typical self, not wanting to have any reminder that his 'Sunshine' was a grown woman and his refusal to investigate this particular room made his blood boil.

No one wanted to go into that room and examine the implications of their _niece_ and the Kid sharing a bed, but someone had to do it if they wanted this thing finished. Turning the knob, Brock took a deep breath. The room was messy, the bed unmade and a laundry bin that was slightly overflowing, but it was undoubtedly the most loved.

There were frames of the walls and Clay and Emma's faces beamed out in every single one. Brock took the time to look at the photos, smiling to himself at the ones he recognized and chuckling at the ones he didn't. Everyone thought Emma was the one with a flair for the dramatics, but it was really Clay. He was as much of a ham as Emma was, and the side of his personality that was hidden from his brothers came out when he was with Emma.

She was good for him, and the love that they shared was something that was abnormal in the best way. Their bedroom, however, was normal, nothing like the sordid tale that Sonny was fabricating in his mind. Of course, not much matched up to the ideas that Sonny somehow created in his mind but that was a discussion for another day.

As Brock made his way throughout the bedroom, everywhere he turned, there was another camera. Whoever this was had the entire bedroom completely covered and the thought of what they were watching turned Brock's stomach more than the implication that Clay and Emma had been intimate. When he found a microphone hidden behind the headboard, he made the executive decision to crush that one beneath his boot and pretend like it never existed. He could imagine how Clay was going to go through the roof when he figured out that they weren't only watching the two of them but listening as well. That piece of information would go with him to his grave. Collecting the small cameras in his hands, Brock made his way back to his brothers in a room that was beginning to feel more and more like an OPs center than a kitchen.

Clay drove the short distance to his apartment in silence. Naima refused to tell him why Ray had requested that they come straight to the apartment and if Clay was being honest with himself, he didn't really think that Naima knew anyways. Ray would have called him directly if the girls were in imminent danger and judging by the lack of tension in Naima's expression, she didn't sense the same amount of danger that he did just driving down the street.

It felt like there was always someone with eyes on him, and not in the comforting way that he knew TOC was keeping an eye on their ISR profile while he was in the field. This was sinister and oppressive; he didn't know how Emma did this for almost two months on her own. He was ready to climb the walls and it had been less than twenty-four hours since he was stateside. Glancing at Emma, he didn't know if she had fallen asleep or not, but he didn't exactly feel like making conversation with Naima, so they rode in silence.

"Em, we're here honey," Clay said, stroking her cheek gently and ignoring Naima's presence. If she wanted to accuse him of not focusing on Emma, he would just have to show her how devoted he was to his girl.

Not that it was any of her business, but still. Emma was her goddaughter, and he couldn't really blame her for being overprotective.

Emma bit her lip and nodded, gathering her stuff and moving towards the door of Clay's truck. When Clay opened the door for her, she smiled for the first time in what felt like years and he felt his heart soar. He always thought that Emma was even more beautiful when she smiled.

"I'm with you the entire way," Clay whispered into her ear and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. With Naima leading the way to the apartment, Clay and Emma brought up the rear as they rode the elevator up to his third story apartment. Before Clay could even get his key out, the door swung open and Ray met them at the door.

"Baby," Naima whispered, looking at the dark circles that rimmed his eyes. Clay and Emma stepped inside to give them a moment of privacy and instead of the home that they built together, they stepped into a nightmare.

"Clay," Sonny's voice called out, softer than he was used to and full of more emotion than he had ever heard from the man. Looking at the man, there was no indication as to why he was being… nicer than usual. Each man was standing, ready to spring into action in a moment's notice and it took him far longer than it should have for him to notice the images spread throughout the apartment.

For the last six weeks Emma had done this all alone, sent everyone that was still stateside somewhere else to protect them and refused to share any of her struggles with her family. There had to be at least a hundred photos on the table and the words that were bubbling up in his throat stopped short and his breath stuttered in his chest.

Some of those photos looked like they were set up for a sniper's nest.

"Kid, I need you to take a breath," Trent whispered, coming up close to the both of them. No one liked the look in either of their eyes, but the way that Clay was gripping Emma's shoulder had them even more nervous. Clay would never intentionally hurt her, but in his current state of mind fresh off a deployment, he might not even know that his grip was too firm.

Clay locked eyes with him and inhaled and exhaled with his brother before his attention was diverted to a hitch in Emma's breathing.

She was crying and he was standing there like a fucking moron.

Drawing her into his chest, Clay rubbed her back and focused all his attention on making sure that they both stood upright. He had never seen Emma sob so intently, even after Alana and Adam's deaths, and he didn't give a damn that everyone was watching them in the middle of his living room. Emma mattered more than a little embarrassment later that evening when he had to look his brothers in the eye.

Naima wanted him to put Emma first, here's her firsthand look at just that.

"I gotcha Em, it's ok," he whispered, putting his forehead on the top of her head. "I'm not going anywhere, you're safe, I promise." Clay didn't know how long he held her in his arms, but eventually the sobs quieted. When Emma looked up at him, he saw a glimmer of her classic spitfire and there was hope in her gaze. She wasn't giving up just yet.

Clay couldn't help but guide Emma across the apartment to the table with a gentle hand on her lower back, not wanting to be separated from her for more than necessary. If he could keep his eyes on her, in his mind, he could keep her safe. Emma's had other plans.

"What's the plan?" she said simply. "I'm tired of this and I want this son of bitch. I want my life back."

There was silence in the kitchen and Jason started to speak when Sonny interrupted him darkly. "Metal's gonna bury the son of a bitch so far down, he's not goin' to know his head from his asshole," Sonny growled, cracking the knuckles on his right hand. Someone had gone after his Sunshine; they were going to pay in blood and Metal was always more than happy to collect.

"Metal can bury him after I get a crack at him," Emma snapped back, flipping one of the photos over and snagging a pen. "What we need is a plan, then we execute it."

"Mandy, Lisa, and I are going to see if we still have a contact somewhere that knows anything, Darcy and Mia are going to be calling in favors as well," Naima spoke up from her place next to Ray, the glint in her eyes softening when she stared at Emma. They would find something that they could use even if Naima had to call SecNav himself.

"And while they're digging, Em, you're going to stay with someone. If it's not with Clay, then you're with me or Uncle Charlie," Jason stated, hoping there wouldn't be any blowback.

"And if none of you are available?"

"We're stood down, we'll make ourselves available. I don't want you going anywhere alone, and I don't want you staying somewhere by yourself. I'm putting my foot down on this one Emma Kate," he said, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees.

"I got it, go nowhere alone."

"For now," Brock piped up, "it would be best if you stayed with Clay at his apartment since we can't guarantee that your house is camera or microphone free."

"They were watching me in the apartment?" Emma growled.

Trent glared at Brock, clearly wanting to keep that piece of information to himself. Damn Brock and his need for complete honesty, even when it hurt. "We found cameras and microphones throughout the apartment. We got all of them but haven't been able to check your house yet."

"Let me know when, and we'll help you," Clay said firmly, holding onto Emma's hand while she wrote all the thoughts that were being tossed around. He didn't contribute much to the conversation, partly because he didn't even know what to add, but also because of how awestruck he was by this girl.

When Emma yawned for the fifth time, he made eye contact with Jason and was grateful for all the time he spent with the man that allowed him to know what he was thinking without him having to say a word.

"Alright, for now we know what we're doing. The rest of this can be figured out later when we've slept and had more than a protein bar for dinner," Jason called out, halting an intense discussion of who would be staying with Emma during the week. There were mumbled agreements and gradually everyone began to shuffle towards the door with Jason the last one to leave.

"Kid, if anything happens, I mean anything, you call."

"I will Jay," Clay promised, standing side by side with Emma.

Jason sighed and kissed her forehead before making his way out to the street, not really wanting to go home to a quiet house where his thoughts would be far too loud.

Emma sighed in relief when the door to the apartment shut and Clay turned the deadbolt on the lock. He was home and finally, _finally_, she felt like she could take a deep breath; no one was watching her tonight.

"Honey, if you're hungry I can see what we have in the apartment for a quick dinner," she said over her shoulder as she moved into the kitchen. The images that stared back at her were quickly turned over and she was determined to not let it be the entire focus of her first night back with Clay.

"Emmie K, I'm not really all that hungry right now," he admitted, wrapping his arms around her waist. "I just, Em, I need to hold you."

"You'll get no complaints from me, just let me get ready for bed."

Clay leaned down and kissed her softly, almost chastely, before following her into the bathroom. Emma didn't say anything when he sat down on the edge of the tub and watched as she washed her face and brushed her teeth before pulling her hair up into a bun for bed. If she was feeling off balance and unsettled, she couldn't imagine what Clay was feeling when he walked into the door of their home this afternoon.

For Clay to have willingly sought out her comfort, it wasn't exactly warm and fluffy feelings.

When she was finished, they shut off the lights in the apartment and opened the door to their bedroom. For a moment, they stood side by side without moving. Both had pictured this moment when they were finally together again going differently, but life happened when they were busy making plans and didn't stop just because something horrible was happening.

"Clay?"

"Yeah Em," he said absentmindedly as he turned down the bed.

"I'm so glad you're home," her voice cracked at the end and Emma was so tired of crying. But Clay was home, and they were going to figure this out, together.

"Me too, Em, me too."

It took a long time for them to fall asleep, but eventually Emma drifted off in Clay's arms and for the first time since that godforsaken envelope arrived, she slept through the night.

Ray and Naima sat in the car for a moment, neither speaking. This wasn't quite the homecoming that Naima had pictured in her mind after a six week deployment and after everything had fallen into place, there was a pit in her stomach that had nothing to do with their game plan and everything to do with how she treated Clay.

"Baby, what's wrong," Ray questioned, as he turned the key in the ignition. Naima was quieter than norma,l and Ray wondered if there was more that she wasn't sharing with him.

"I think I owe Clay an apology."

"Well, ok, why's that?" And just like that, her husband soothed her without saying a word. His quiet acceptance and the freedom of judgement are some of the many reasons why she loved this man unconditionally.

Naima turned in her seat to look at her husband's calm face and felt the bubbling of guilt in her stomach. "I said some things that I didn't mean, accused him of not putting Emma first when he was deployed," she whispered, ashamed of her actions.

When Ray didn't speak, Naima snuck a peek at his face, but it had remained impassive. "You're right, you do owe Clay an apology. I know you didn't see it from our side of things and a lot of times, you can't. But that man did everything in his power to make sure that Emma was safe and it's a two-way street baby. We're not in their relationship just like they're not in ours."

"And I know that, Ray. I just got so frustrated. I feel like we're not doing enough"

"I think right now we're doing all that we can, and tomorrow we'll do a little bit more. Right now, Clay needs Emma and I need you, everything else can wait."

And it would wait, tomorrow would come sooner rather than later and Ray wanted to spend as much time with his wife as he could before the world demanded his attention once again.

Opening the door to his own apartment, Brock didn't know what to say. His world was jumbled, and he couldn't make heads or tails of the situation. All he knew for certain was that he was glad that he wasn't Clay right now. If Mia was threatened again… he didn't know that he could take that pain again.

"Brock? Is that you?"

"Yeah, I'm home Mia," Brock said, scratching Cerb's head as he moved into the living room. Brock saw Mia's hands flutter at her side before she drew him into her embrace. Once again, Brock was grateful that he didn't have to make a sound, she knew what he needed. The three of them sat on the couch and Brock let his eyes slip shut.

Mia was safe.

The rest could wait for a few hours.

By the time Trent made it home, Darcy was waiting on the porch for him and the sun was setting. There must have been something on his face that Darcy was looking for when she stared intently into his eyes.

"Where are the kids?" he asked, rubbing his thumb over her cheek where she still had a streak of flour from making dinner that night.

"Hopefully asleep by now," she chuckled as they moved towards the girls' bedroom. Nothing in the world compared to the sound of your children breathing, safe and content in their beds. Trent would have stood there all night long, but the promise of his warm bed and a cold beer dragged him from his spot in the doorway.

Darcy spoke up from behind his shoulder in a low voice and Trent is instantly reminded of one of the best qualities in his wife, the one that protects their children and makes him fall deeper in love with her every single day. "When we find this son of a bitch, there isn't going to be anything left for Metal to bury. I promise you that," she swore, fire lighting up her blue eyes.

Trent nodded and let her drag him towards their bedroom, tomorrow's going to be a long day.

When Davis finally finds Sonny, he's sitting at the end of his favorite bar, which really shouldn't have been a surprise, three glasses deep into his whiskey. The toothpick that was ever present was being twirled between his fingers and if she didn't know Sonny better, she'd say that his cheeks were red from tears rather than the alcohol.

"What are you doin' here Lisa?"

"Checking up on you cowboy, you done drinking alone?"

"I deserve to be alone right now, Lisa," he said, taking another large swig.

Lisa didn't say anything. There were instances where words weren't needed and right now Sonny could tell her that he wanted to be alone, but she didn't really feel like listening to him lie to her face. She'd stay right where she was, thank you very much.

"I'm failing her Davis, complete mission failure."

"What do you mean?"

"I can't keep anyone from shittin' the bed and it's making me madder than a cat gettin' baptized Lisa!"

It took everything that Lisa had, all her self-control and her very best poker face to keep herself from laughing. When Sonny was well and truly drunk, his Texas charm came out in full force and oftentimes didn't make the most sense.

"Son, you're doing the best you can, you can't keep everyone under lock and key," she said gently.

"I promised 'lana that I would keep her safe!" Sonny roared, nearly crushing his whiskey glass in his hand. "I take my promises very seriously and I am failing Alana by not keepin' her baby safe Lisa, that's unacceptable."

"We're gonna get those answers Sonny, I promise you that. Let's go home, Clay's gonna keep Emma safe tonight."

Lisa was happy when Sonny let her lead him away from the bar and back to her car but in the back of her mind she didn't think that controlling Sonny would be that easy when they eventually found the son of a bitch.

Jason drove for a long time before he pulled into the driveway of the house that he and Alana had first brought Emma home to and then later Mikey. It was where they had birthdays and first steps and barbecues and everything in between.

Pulling himself together, Jason got out of the car and got a good look at the damage that had been done to Emma's. Key marks ran the length of the car and he was sure that it was one more thing that he had to take care of in the morning.

But now, it was time to rack out on the couch and pretend it was anyone else's home but his, because it wasn't really a home anymore. The house was once full of light and laughter and love and now it sat desolate, abandoned in fear. Sighing, he got out of the truck and stopped short, in the spot where Alana loved to sit and read her trashy novels, sat Mandy, holding a thick folder in her hands.

"Jason, I got it," she called down to him, a proud smile stretching across her face.

He just met her grin ferally and opened the door wide.

It was time to get this fucker once and for all.


End file.
